INTERNATIONAL
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INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
INTERNATIONAL
LANGUAGE
PAST, PRESENTS FUTURE
WITH SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO
AND GRAMMAR
BY W. J. CLARK
M.A. OXON., PH.D. LEIPZIG
LICENCIE-ES-LETTRES, BACHELIER-EN-DROIT
PARIS
LONDON
J. M. DENT & COMPANY
1907
APR 1 '
PRINTED BY
UAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.
PREFACE
An artificial language may be more regular, more perfect, and
easier to learn than a natural one. — MAX MULLER.
THE world is spinning fast down the grooves of change.
The old disorder changeth. Haply it is yielding place to
new. The tongue is a little member. It should no longer
be allowed to divide the nations.
Two things stand out in the swift change. Science with
all its works is spreading to all lands. The East, led by
Japan, is coming into line with the West.
Standardization of life may fittingly be accompanied by
standardization of language. The effect may be twofold —
Practical and Ideal.
Practical, The World has a thousand tongues,
Science but one :
They'll climb up a thousand rungs
When Babel's done.
Ideal. Mankind has a thousand tongues,
Friendship but one :
Banzai! then from heart and lungs
For the Rising Sun.
W. J. C.
NOTE. — The following pages have had the advantage
of being read in MS. by Mr. H. Bolingbroke Mudie, and
I am indebted to him for many corrections and suggestions.
AN INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
NOTE. — To avoid repeating the cumbrous phrase "international
auxiliary language," the word auxiliary is usually omitted. It must
be clearly understood that when "international" or "universal"
language is spoken of, auxiliary is also implied.
CHAP. PAGE
I. Introductory I
II. The Question of Principle — Economic Advantage of
an International Language ..... 4
III. The Question of Practice — An International Language
is Possible 8
IV. The Question of Practice (continued) — An International
Language is Easy A 6.
V. The Question of Practice (continued} — The Introduction
of an International Language would not cause
Dislocation 24
VI. International Action already taken for the Introduction
of an Auxiliary Language 26
VII. Can the International Language be Latin? ... 33
VIII. Can the International Language be Greek ? . . 35
IX. Can the International Language be a Modern
Language? 36
X. Can the Evolution of an International Language be
left to the Process of Natural Selection by Free
Competition? , .38
CONTENTS v
CHAP. PAGE
XI. Objections to an International Language on Aesthetic
Grounds ........ 40
XII. Will an International Language discourage the Study
of Modern Languages, and thus be Detrimental to
Culture ?— Parallel with the Question of Com-
pulsory Greek 46
XIII. Objection to an International Language on the Ground
that it will soon split up into Dialects ... 49
XIV. Objection that the Present International Language
(Esperanto) is too Dogmatic, and refuses to
profit by Criticism 51
XV. Summary of Objections to an International Language. 53
XVI. The Wider Cosmopolitanism — The Coming of Asia . 57
XVII. Importance of an International Language for the Blind 61
XVIII. Ideal v. Practical 63
XIX. Literary v. Commercial 65
XX. Is an International Language a Crank's Hobby ? . .70
XXI. What an International Language is not ... 73
XXII. What an International Language is .... (73)
PART II
HISTORICAL
I. Some Existing International Languages already in
Partial Use 74
II. Outline of History of the Idea of a Universal Language
— List of Schemes proposed .... 76
III. The Earliest British Attempt . . . . . 87
IV. History of Volapiik — a Warning 92
V, History of Idiom Neutral 98
vi CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
VI. The Newest Languages: a Neo-Latin Group— Grop-
ings towards a "Pan-European" Amalgamated
Scheme 103
__^— VII. History of Esperanto f™$
Present State of Esperanto: (a) General ; (£) in England 121
IX. Lessons to be drawn from the Foregoing History . 131
PART III
THE CLAIMS OF ESPERANTO TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY :
CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON THE STRUCTURE OF
THE LANGUAGE ITSELF
* I. Esperanto is scientifically constructed, and fulfils the
Natural Tendency in Evolution of Language 135
II. Esperanto from an Educational Point of View — It will
aid the learning of other Languages and stimu-
late Intelligence
III. Comparative Tables illustrating Labour saved in learn-
ing Esperanto as contrasted with other Languages :
(a) Word-building ; (£) Participles and Auxiliaries 155
IV. How Esperanto can be used as a Code Language to
communicate with Persons who have never learnt it 161
PART IV
SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO, WITH GRAMMAR AND
VOCABULARY
Note 165
I. Pronunciation 166
1 1 . Specimens of Esperanto :
1. Parolado 167
2. La Marbordistoj 168
3. Nesaga Gento : Alegorio , f . , .168
CONTENTS vii
CHAP. PAGE
III. Grammar 189
IV. List of Affixes 191-
V. Table of Correlative Words 193 .
VI. Vocabulary 194
APPENDIX A
Sample Problems (see Part III., chap, ii.) in Regular Language 200
APPENDIX B
Esperanto Hymn by Dr. Zamenhof 202
APPENDIX C
The Letter c in Esperanto 204
PART I
GENERAL
I
INTRODUCTORY
IN dealing with the problem of the introduction of an international
language, we are met on the threshold by two main questions :
1. The question of principle.
2. The question of practice.
By the question of principle is meant, Is it desirable to have
a universal language ? do we wish for one ? in short, is there a
demand ?
The question of practice includes the inquiries, Is such a
language possible ? is it easy ? would its introduction be fraught
with prohibitive difficulties ? and the like.
It is clear that, however possible or easy it may be to do a
thing, there is no case for doing it unless it is wanted ; therefore
the question of principle must be taken first. In the case before
us the question of principle involves many considerations —
aesthetic, political, social, even religious. These will be glanced
at in their proper place ; but for our present purpose they are all
subordinate to the one great paramount consideration — the
economic one. In the world of affairs experience shows that,
given a demand of any kind whatever, as between an economical
method of supplying that demand and a non-economical method,
in the long run the economical method will surely prevail.
i
2 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
If, then, it can be shown that there is a growing need for
means of international communication, and that a unilingual
solution is more economical than a multilingual one, there is good
ground for thinking that the unilingual method of transacting
international affairs will surely prevail. It then becomes a
question of time and method : When will men feel the pressure
of the demand sufficiently strongly to set about supplying it ? and
what means will they adopt ?
The time and the method are by no means indifferent. Though
a demand (for what is possible) is sure, in the long run, to get
itself supplied, a long period of wasteful and needless groping
may be avoided by a clear-sighted and timely realization of the
demand, and by consequent organized co-operation in supplying
it. Intelligent anticipation sometimes helps events to occur. It
is the object of this book to call attention to the present state
of affairs, and to emphasize the fact that the time is now ripe
for dealing with the question, and the present moment pro-
pitious for solving the problem once for all in an orderly way. The
merest glance at the list of projects for a universal language*
and their dates will strengthen the conviction from an historical
point of view that the fulness of time is accomplished, while the
history of the rise and fall of Volapiik and of the extraordinary
rise of Esperanto, in spite of its precursor's failure, are exceedingly
significant.
One language has been born, come to maturity, and died of
dissension, and the world stood by indifferent. Another is now
in the first full flush of youth and strength. After twenty-nine
years of daily developing cosmopolitanism — years that have
witnessed the rising of a new star in the East and an uninterrupted
growth of interchange of ideas between the nations of the earth,
whether in politics, literature, or science, without a single check
to the ever-rising tide of internationalism — are we again to let the
favourable moment pass unused, just for want of making up our
minds ? At present one language holds the field. It is well
* See pp. 78-87.
INTRODUCTORY 3
organized ; it has abundant enthusiastic partisans accustomed to
communicate and transact their common business in it, and only
too anxious to show the way to others. If it be not officially
adopted and put under the regulation of a duly constituted inter-
national authority, it may wither away or split into factions as
Volapiik did.* Or it may continue to grow and flourish, but
others of its numerous rivals maj^gcure^ adherents and dispute
its claim. This would be even worse. It is farjiarder tp_ rally a
multitude of conflicting rivals in^he same camp, than it is to take-
over a well-organized, homogeneous, and efficient volunteer force,
legalize its position, and raise it to the status of a regular army.
In any case, if ho concerted action be taken, the question will
remain in a state of chaos, and the lack of official organization
brings a great risk of overlapping, dissension, and creation of rival
interests, and generally produces a state of affairs calculated to
postpone indefinitely the supply of the demand. Competition
that neither tends to keep down the price nor to improve the
quality of the thing produced is mere dissipation of energy.
vln a word, the one thing needful at present is not a more highly
perfected language to adopt, but the adoption of the highly
perfected one we possess) By the admission of experts, no less
than by the practical experience of great numbers of persons in
using it over a number of years, it has been found adequate.
Once found adequate, its absolute utility merely depends upon
universal adoption.
With utility in direct proportion to numbers of adherents,
every recruit augments its value — a thought which may well
encourage waverers to make the slight effort necessary to at any
rate learn to read it.
* Esperanto itself is admirably organized (see p. 119), and there are no
factions or symptoms of dissension. But Esperantists need official support
and recognition.
4 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
II
THE QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE — ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE OF AN
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
As stated above, the question of principle will be treated here
from a purely economical point of view, sincefpractical value,
measured by saving of time, money, and effort, must be the
ultimate criterion by which the success or failure of so far-
reaching a reform as the introduction of an international,
auxiliary language will be decided. The bearing of such a
reform upon education, culture, race supremacy, etc., is not
without importance ; but the discussion of these points must
be postponed as subsidiary. >
Reduced to its simplest form, the economical argument is
this:
(1) The volume of international intercourse is great and
increasing.
(2) This intercourse is at present carried on in many different
languages of varying degrees of difficulty, but all relatively hard
of acquisition for those who do not know them as a mother-
tongue. This is uneconomical.
(3) It is economically sounder to carry on international
intercourse in one easy language than in a large number of
hard ones.
(4) Therefore in principle an easy international language is
desirable/
Let us glance at these four points a little more in detail.
No. i surely needs no demonstration. (Every year there is
more communication between men of different race and language.
And it is not business, in the narrow sense of the term, that
is exclusively or even chiefly affected by diversity of language.
Besides the enormous bulk of pleasure travel, international
congresses are growing in number and importance') municipal
fraternization is the latest fashion, and many a worthy alderman,
THE QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE 5
touring at the ratepayers' expense, must wish that he had some
German in Berlin, or a little Italian in Milan. Indeed, it is
at these points of international contact that language is a real
bar, actually preventing much intercourse that would otherwise
have taken place, rather than in business, which is organized in
view of the difficulty. Then there is the whole realm of
scientific and learned literature — work of which the accessibility
to all concerned is of the first importance, but is often hindered
because a translation into one language does not pay, or, if
made, only reaches a limited public. Such bars to freedom
of interchange cannot be reckoned in money; but modern
economics recognizes the personal and social factor, and any
obstacle to research is certainly a public loss.
But important as are these various spheres of action, an even
wider international contact of thought and feeling is springing
up in our days. Democracy, science, and universal education
are producing everywhere similarity of institutions, of industry,
of the whole organization of life. Similarity of life will breed
community of interests, and from this arises real converse—more
give and take in the things that matter, less purely superficial
dealings of the guide-book or conversation-manual type.
(2) " Business," meaning commerce, in so far as it is inter-
national, may at present be carried on mainly in half a dozen
of the principal languages of Western Europe. Even so, their
multiplicity is vexatious. But outside the world of business
other languages are entering the field, and striving for equal
rights. The tendency is all towards self-assertion on the part
of the nationalities that are beginning a new era of national
life and importance. The language difficulty in the Austrian
Empire reflects the growing self-consciousness of the Magyars.
^Everywhere where young peoples are pushing their rights to
take equal rank among the nations of the world, the language
question is put in the forefront) The politicians of Ireland and
Wales have realized the importance of language in asserting
nationality, but such engineered language-agitation offers but
6 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
a feeble reflex of the vitality of the question in lands where the
native language is as much in use for all purposes as is English
in England. These lands will fight harder and harder against
the claims to supremacy of a handful of Western intruders.
A famous foreign philologist,* in a report on the subject pre-
sented to the Academy of Vienna, notes the increasing tendency
of Russian to take rank among the recognized languages for
purposes of polite learning. He is well placed to observe. tWith
Russia knocking at the door and Hungary waiting to storm the
breach, what tongue may not our descendants of the next century
have to learn, under pain of losing touch with important currents
of thought ? It is high time something were done to standardize
means of transmission. Owing to political conditions, there
are linguistically disintegrating forces at work, which are at
variance with the integrating forces of natural tendency!
From an economical point of view, a considerable amount of
time, effort, and money must be unreproductively invested in
overcoming the " language difficulty." In money alone the
amount must run into thousands of pounds yearly. Among the
unreproductive investments are — the employment of foreign
correspondence clerks, the time and money spent upon the
installation of educational plant for their production, the time
and money spent upon translations and interpreters for the
proceedings of international conferences and negotiations, the
time devoted by professors and other researchers (often non-
linguists in virtue of their calling) to deciphering special treatises
and learned periodicals in languages not their own.t
* Prof. Shuchardt.
f These are some of the actual visible losses owing to the presence of the
language difficulty. No one can estimate the value of the losses entailed by
the absence of free intercourse due to removable linguistic barriers. Potential
(but at present non-realized) extension of goodwill, swifter progress, and wider
knowledge represent one side of their value ; while consequent non-realized
increase in volume of actual business represents their value in money. The
negative statement of absence of results from intercourse that never took place
affords no measure of positive results obtainable under a better system.
THE QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE 7
The tendency of those engaged in advancing material progress,
which consists in the subjection of nature to man's ends, is to
adapt more and more quickly their methods to changing con-
ditions. Has the world yet faced in a business-like spirit the
problem of wiping out wastage on words ?
Big industrial concerns scrap machinery while it is yet perfectly
capable of running and turning out good work, in order to replace
it by newer machinery, capable of turning out more work in the
same time. Time is money. Can the busy world afford a language
difficulty ?
(3) The proposition that it is economically sounder to carry on
(international intercourse in one easy language than in a large
number of hard ones rests upon the principle that it does not pay
to do a thing a hard way, if the same results can be produced by
an easy way;)
The whole industrial revolution brought about by the invention
of machinery depended upon this principle. Since an artificial
language, like machinery, is a means invented by man of furthering
his ends, there seems to be no abuse of analogy in comparing
them.
When it was found that machinery would turn out a hundred
pieces of cloth while the hand-loom turned out one, the hand-
loom was doomed, except in so far as it may serve other ends,
antiquarian, aesthetic, or artistic, which are not equally well served
by machinery. Similarly, to take another revolution which is
going on in our own day through a further application of
machinery, when it is found that corn can be reaped and threshed
by machinery, that hay can be cut, made, carried, and stacked by
machinery, that man can travel the high road by machinery, sooner
or later machinery is bound to get the bulk of the job, because it
produces the same results at greater speed and less cost. So, in
the field of international intercourse, if an easy artificial language
can with equal efficiency and at less cost produce the same results
as a multiplicity of natural ones, in many lines of human activity,
and making all reserves in matters antiquarian, aesthetic, and
8 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
artistic, sooner or later the multiplicity will have to go to the
scrap-heap * as cumbrous and out of date. It may be a hundred
years ; it may be fifty ; it may be even twenty. Almost certainly
the irresistible trend of economic pressure will work its will and
insist that what has to be done shall be, done in the most
economical way.
So much, then, for the question of principle. In treating it,
certain large assumptions have been made ; e.g. it is said above,
" if an easy artificial language can with equal efficiency . . .
produce the same results," etc. Here it is assumed that the
artificial language is (i) easy, and (2) that it is possible for it
to produce the same results. Again, however easy and possible,
its introduction might cost more than it saved. These are
questions of fact, and are treated in the three following chapters
under the heading of " The Question of Practice."
Ill
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE — AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE IS
POSSIBLE
THE man who says a thing is impossible without troubling to find
out whether it has been done is merely "talking through his hat,"
to use an Americanism, and we need not waste much time on
him. Any one, who maintains that it is impossible to transact
the ordinary business of life and write lucid treatises on scientific
and other subjects in an artificial language, is simply in the
position of the French engineer, who gave a full scientific demon-
stration of the fact that an engine could not possibly travel by
steam.
The plain fact is that not only one artificial language, but
* But only, of course, in those lines in which an international auxiliary
language can produce equally good results. This excludes home use,
national literature, philology, scholarly study of national languages, etc.
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 9
several, already exist, which not only can express, but already
have expressed all the ideas current in social intercourse, business,
and serious exposition. It is only necessary to state the facts
briefly.
First — Volapiik.
Three congresses were held in all for the promotion of this
language. The third (Paris, 1889) was the most important. It
was attended by Volapiikists from many different nations, who
carried on all their business in Volapiik, and found no difficulty
in understanding one another. Besides this, there were a great
many newspapers published in Volapiik, which treated of all
kinds of subjects.
Secondly — Idiom Neutral, the lineal descendant of Volapiik.
It is regulated by an international academy, which sends round
circulars and does all its business in Idiom Neutral.
Thirdly — Esperanto*
jSince the publication of the language in 1887 it has had a
gradually increasing number of adherents, who have used it for
all ordinary purposes of communication. A great number of
newspapers and reviews of all kinds are now published regularly
in Esperanto in a great variety of countries^ I take up a chance
number of the Internada Scienca Revuo, which happens to be on
my table, and find the following subjects among the contents
of the month : " Role of living beings in the general physiology
of the earth," "The carnivorous animals of Sweden," "The
part played by heredity in the etiology of chronic nephritis,"
" The migration of the lemings," " Notices of books," " Notes and
correspondence," etc. In fact, the Review has all the appearance
of an ordinary scientific periodical, and the articles are as clearly
expressed and as easy to read as those in any similar review in
a national language.
Even more convincing perhaps, for the uninitiated, is the
evidence afforded by the International Congresses of Esper-
antists. The first was held at Boulogne in August 1905. It
marked an epoch in the lives of many of the participants, whose
io INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
doubts as to the practical nature of an artificial language there,
for good and all, yielded to the logic of facts ; and it may well be
that it will some day be rather an outstanding landmark in the
history of civilization. A brief description will, therefore, not
be out of place.
In the little seaport town on the north coast of France had
come together men and women of more than twenty different
races. Some were experts, some were beginners ; but all save
a very few must have been alike in this, that they had learnt their
Esperanto at home, and, as far as oral use went, had only been
able to speak it (if at all) with members of their own national
groups — that is, with compatriots who had acquired the language
under the same conditions as to pronunciation, etc., as themselves.
Experts and beginners, those who from practical experience knew
the great possibilities of the new tongue as a written medium, no
less than the neophytes and tentative experimenters who had
come to see whether the thing was worth taking seriously, they
were now to make the decisive trial — in the one case to test the
faith that was in them, in the other to set all doubt at rest in one
sense or the other for good and all.
The town theatre had been generously placed at the disposal of
the Congress, and the author of the language, Dr. Zamenhof, had
left his eye-patients at Warsaw and come to preside at the coming
out of his kara lingvo, now well on in her 'teens, and about
to leave the academic seclusion of scholastic use and emerge
into the larger sphere of social and practical activity.
On Saturday evening, August 5, at eight o'clock, the Boulogne
Theatre was packed with a cosmopolitan audience. The unique
assembly was pervaded by an indefinable feeling of expectancy ;
as in the lull before the thunderstorm, there was the hush of
excitement, the tense silence charged with the premonition of
some vast force about to be let loose on the world. After a
few preliminaries, there was a really dramatic moment when
Dr. Zamenhof stood up for the first time to address his world-
audience in the world-tongue. Would they understand him ?
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE n
Was their hope about to be justified ? or was it all a chimera,
" such stuff as dreams are made on " ?
" Gesinjoroj " ( = Ladies and gentlemen) — the great audience
craned forward like one man, straining eyes and ears towards the
speaker, — " Kun granda plezuro mi akceptis la proponon ..."
The crowd drank in the words with an almost pathetic agony
of anxiety. Gradually, as the clear-cut sentences poured forth
in a continuous stream of perfect lucidity, and the audience
realized that they were all listening to and all understanding a
really international speech in a really international tongue — a
tongue which secured to them, as here in Boulogne so throughout
the world, full comprehension and a sense of comradeship and
fellow-citizenship on equal terms with all users of it — the anxiety
gave way to a scene of wild enthusiasm. Men shook hands with
perfect strangers, and all cheered and cheered again. Zamenhof
finished with a solemn declamation of one of his hymns (given
as an appendix to this volume, with translation), embodying the
lofty ideal which has inspired him all through and sustained him
through the many difficulties he has had to face. When he came
to the end, the fine passage beginning with the words, " Ni inter
popoloj la murojn detruos " (" we shall throw down the walls
between the peoples "), and ending " amo kaj vero ekregos sur
tero " (" love and truth shall begin their reign on earth "), the
whole concourse rose to their feet with prolonged cries of " Vivu
Zamenhof ! "
No doubt this enthusiasm may sound rather forced and unreal
to those who have not attended a congress, and the cheers may
ring hollow across intervening time and space. Neither would it
be good for this or any movement to rely upon facile enthusiasm,
as easily damped as aroused. There is something far more than
this in the international language movement.
At the same time, it is impossible for any one who has not tried
it to realize the thrill — not a weak, sentimental thrill, but a reason-
able thrill, starting from objective fact and running down the
marrow of things — given by the first real contact with an
12 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
international language in an international setting. There really
is a feeling as of a new power born into the world.
Those who were present at the Geneva Congress, 1906, will
not soon forget the singing of the song "La Espero " at the
solemn closing of the week's proceedings. The organ rolled out
the melody, and when the gathered thousands that thronged the
floor of the hall and packed the galleries tier on tier to the ceiling
took up the opening phrase —
En la mondon venis nova sento,
Tra la mondo iras forta voko,*
they meant every word of it. It was a fitting summary of the
impressions left by the events of the week, and what the lips
uttered must have been in the hearts and minds of all.
As an ounce of personal experience is worth a pound of
second-hand recital, a brief statement may here be given of the
way in which the present writer came to take up Esperanto, and
of the experiences which soon led him to the conviction of its
absolute practicability and utility.
In October, 1905, having just returned from an absence of
some years in Canada and the Far East, he had his attention
turned to Esperanto for the first time by reading an account
of the Congress of Boulogne. He had no previous knowledge of,
or leanings towards, a universal language ; and if he had thought
about it at all, it was only to laugh at the idea as a wild and
visionary scheme. In short, his attitude was quite normal.
But here was a definite statement, professing to be one of
positive accomplished fact. One of two things : either the news-
paper account was not true ; or else, the facts being as represented,
here was a new possibility to be reckoned with. The only course
was to send for the books and test the thing on its merits.
Being somewhat used to languages, he did not take long to see
that this one was good enough in itself. A letter, written in
* Into the world has come a new feeling,
Through the world goes a mighty call.
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 13
Esperanto, after a few days' study of the grammar at odd times,
with a halfpenny Esperanto-English key enclosed, was fully under-
stood by the addressee, though he was ignorant up till then of
the very existence of Esperanto. This experience has often been
since repeated ; indeed, the correspondent will often write back
after a few days in Esperanto. Such letters have always been
found intelligible, though in no case did the correspondent know
Esperanto previously. The experiment is instructive and amusing,
and can be tried by any one for an expenditure of twopence for
keys and a few hours for studying the sixteen rules and their
application. To many minds these are far simpler and more
easy to grasp for practical use than the rules for scoring at
bridge.
After a month or two's playing with the language in spare time,
the writer further tested it, by sending out a flight of postcards to
various selected Esperantists' addresses in different parts of the
Russian Empire. The addressees ranged from St. Petersburg and
Helsingfors through Poland to the Caucasus and to far Siberia.
In nearly every case answers were received, and in some
instances the initial interchange of postcards led to an extremely
interesting correspondence, throwing much light on the disturbed
state of things in the native town or province of the correspondent.
From a Tiflis doctor came a graphic account of the state of affairs
in the Caucasus ; while a school inspector from the depths of
Eastern Siberia painted a vivid picture of the effect of political
unrest on the schools — lockouts and "malodorous chemical
obstructions" (Anglice — the schools were stunk out). Many
writers expressed themselves with great freedom, but feared their
letters would not pass the censor. Judging by the proportion
of answers received, the censorship was not at that time efficient.
In no case was there any difficulty in grasping the writer's meaning.
All the answers were in Esperanto.
This was fairly convincing, but still having doubts on the
question of pronunciation, the writer resolved to attend the
Esperanto Congress to be held at Geneva in August 1906. To
14 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
this end he continued to read Esperanto at odd minutes and
took in an Esperanto gazette. About three weeks before the
congress he got a member of his family to read aloud to him
every day as far as possible a page or two of Esperanto, in order
to attune his ear. He never had an opportunity of speaking the
language before the congress, except once for a few minutes,
when he travelled some distance to attend a meeting of the
nearest English group.
Thus equipped, he went through the Congress of Geneva, and
found himself able to follow most of the proceedings, and to
converse freely, though slowly, with people of the most diverse
nationality. At an early sitting of the congress he found himself
next to a Russian from Kischineff, who had been through the
first great pogrom, and a most interesting conversation ensued.
Another day the neighbours were an Indian nawab and an abbe
from Madrid. Another time it was a Bulgarian. At the first
official banquet he sat next to a Finn, who rejoiced in the name
of Attila, and, but for the civilizing influence of a universal
language, might have been in the sunny south, like his namesake
of the ancient world, on a very different errand from his present
peaceful one. Yet here he was, rubbing elbows with Italians, as
if there had never been such things as Huns or a sack of Rome
by northern barbarians.
During the meal a Frenchman, finding himself near us English
and some Germans, proposed a toast to the " entente cordiale
taking in Germany," which was honoured with great enthusiasm.
This is merely an instance of the small ways in which such
gatherings make for peace and good will.
With all these people it was perfectly easy to converse in the
common tongue, pronunciation and national idiom being no bar
in practice.
And this experience was general throughout the duration of the
congress. Day by day sittings were held for the transaction of all
kinds of business and the discussion of the most varied subjects.
It was impressive to see people from half the countries of the
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 15
world rise from different corners of the hall and contribute their
share to the discussion in the most matter-of-fact way. Day by
day the congressists met in social functions, debates, lectures,
and sectional groups (chemical, medical, legal, etc.) for the
regulation of matters touching their special interests. Everything
was done in Esperanto, and never was there the slightest hitch
or misunderstanding, or failure to give adequate expression to
opinions owing to defects of language. The language difficulty
was annihilated.
Perhaps one of the most striking demonstrations of this return
to pre-Babel conditions was the performance of a three-part
comedy by a Frenchman, a Russian, and a Spaniard. Such
a thing would inevitably have been grotesque in any national
language ; but here they met on common neutral ground. No
one's accent was " foreign," and none of the spectators possessed
that mother-tongue acquaintance with Esperanto that would
lead them to feel slight divergences shocking, or even noticeable
without extreme attention to the point. Other theatrical per-
formances were given at Geneva, as also at Boulogne, where a play
of Moliere was performed in Esperanto by actors of eight nation-
alities with one rehearsal, and with full success.
In the face of these facts it is idle to oppose a universal
artificial language on the score of impossibility or inadequacy.
The theoretical pronunciation difficulty completely crumbled
away before the test of practice.
The " war-at-any-price party," the whole-hoggers d tous crins
(the juxtaposition of the two national idioms lends a certain
realism, and heightens the effect of each), are therefore driven
back on their second line of attack, if the Hibernianism may
be excused. "Yes," they say, "your language may be possible,
but, after all, why not learn an existing language, if you've got to
learn one anyway ? "
Now, quite apart from the obvious fact that the nations will
never agree to give the preference to the language of one of them
to the prejudice of the others, this argument involves the
1 6 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
suggestion that an artificial language is no easier to learn
than a natural one. We thus come to the question of ease as a
qualification.
IV
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE (continued) — AN INTERNATIONAL
LANGUAGE IS EASY *
PEOPLE smile incredulously at the mention of an artificial
language, implying that no easy royal road can be found to
language-learning of any kind. But the odds are all the other
way, and they are heavy odds.
The reason for this is quite simple, and may be briefly put
as follows :
The object of language is to express thought and feeling.
Every natural language contains all kinds of complications and
irregularities, which are of no use whatever in attaining this
object, but merely exist because they happen to have grown.
Their sole raison d'etre is historical. In fact, for a language
without a history they are unnecessary.^ Therefore a universal
language, whose only object is to supply to every one the
simplest possible means of expressing his thoughts and feelings
in a medium intelligible to every one else, simply leaves them
out. Now, it is precisely in these " unnecessary " complications
that a large proportion — certainly more than half — of the
difficulty of learning a foreign language consists. Therefore an
artificial language, by merely leaving them out, becomes
certainly more than twice as easy to learn as any natural
language.
* Readers who do not care about the reasons for this, but desire concrete
proofs, may skip the next few pages and turn in to p. 20, par. 6.
f i.e. they do not assist in attaining its object as a language. One universal
way of forming the plural, past tense, or comparative expresses plurality,
past time, or comparison just as well as fifteen ways, and with a deal less
trouble.
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 17
A little reflection will make this truth so absurdly obvious,
that the only wonder is, not that it is now beginning to be
recognized, but that any one could have ever derided it.
That the "unnecessary" difficulties of a natural language
are more than one-half of the whole is certainly an under-estimate;
for some languages the proportion would be more like 3 : 4 or
5 : 6. Compared with these, the artificial language would be
three times to five times as easy.
Take an illustration. Compare the work to be done by the
learner of (a) Latin, (b] Esperanto, in expressing past, present,
and future action.
(a) Latin :
Present tense active is expressed by —
6 endings in the ist regular conjugation.
6 „ 2nd „
6 „ 3rd »
6 „ 4th „
Total regular endings : 24.
To these must be added a vast number of quite different
and varying forms for irregular verbs.
(&) Esperanto :
Present tense active is expressed by —
i ending for every verb in the language.
Total regular and irregular endings : i.
It is exactly the same for the past and future.
Total endings for the 3 tenses active :
(a) Latin : 72 regular forms, plus a very large number of
irregular and defective verbs.
(b] Esperanto : 3 forms.
Turning to the passive voice, we get —
(a) Latin : A complete set of different endings, some of them
puzzling in form and liable to confusion with other parts of
the verb.
i8 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
(b) Esperanto : No new endings at all. Merely the three-form
regular active conjugation of the verb esti = to be, with a passive
participle. No confusion possible.
It is just the same with compound tenses, subjunctives,
participles, etc. Making all due allowances, it is quite safe to say
that the Latin verb is fifty times as hard as the Esperanto verb.
The proportion would be about the same in the case of
substantives, Latin having innumerable types.
Comparing modern languages with Esperanto, the proportion
in favour of the latter would not be so high as fifty to one in
the inflection of verbs and nouns, though even here it would
be very great, allowing for subjunctives, auxiliaries, irregu-
larities, etc. But taking the whole languages, it might well
rise to ten to one.
For what are the chief difficulties in language-learning ?
They are mainly either difficulties of phonetics, or of structure
and vocabulary.
Difficulties of phonetics are :
(1) Multiplicity of sounds to be produced, including many
sounds and combinations that do not occur in the language of
the learner.
(2) Variation of accent, and of sounds expressed by the
same letter.
These difficulties are both eliminated in Esperanto.
(1) Relatively few sounds are adopted into the language,
and only such as are common to nearly all languages. For
instance, there are only five full vowels and three * diphthongs,
which can be explained to every speaker in terms of his own
language. All the modified vowels, closed "u's" and "e's," half
tones, longs and shorts, open and closed vowels, etc., which
form the chief bugbear in correct pronunciation, and often render
the foreigner unintelligible — all these disappear.
(2) There is no variation of accent or of sound expressed by
* Omitting the rare eu. ej and uj are merely simple vowels plus consonantal
; ( = English y).
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE ig
the same letter. The principle " one letter, one sound " * is
adhered to absolutely. Thus, having learned one simple rule
for accent (always on the last syllable but one), and the uniform
sound borresponding to each letter, no mistake is possible.
Contrast this with English. Miss Soames gives twenty-one ways
of writing the same sound. Here they are :
ate great feign
bass eh ! weigh
pain gaol aye
pay gauge obeyed
dahlia champagne weighed
vein campaign trait
they straight half 'penny t
(Compare eye, lie, high, etc.)
In Esperanto this sound is expressed only and always by "e."
In fact, the language is absolutely and entirely phonetic, as all
real language was once.
As regards difficulties of vocabulary, the same may be said
as in the case of the sounds. Esperanto only adopts the minimum
of roots essential, and these are simple, non-ambiguous, and as
international as possible. Owing to the device of word-building
by means of a few suffixes and prefixes with fixed meaning, the
number of roots necessary is very greatly less than in any natural
language, j
As for difficulties of structure, some of the chief ones are
as follows :
Multiplicity and complexity of inflections. This does not exist
in Esperanto.
* The converse — "one sound, one letter" — is also true, except that the
same sound is expressed by c and ts. (See Appendix C.)
f Prof. Skeat adds a twenty-second : Lord Reay !
\ Most of these roots are already known to educated people. For the
young the learning of a certain number of words presents practically no
difficulty ; it is in the practical application of words learnt that they break
down, and this failure is almost entirely due to " unnecessary " difficulties.
20 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Irregularities and exceptions of all kinds. None in Esperanto.
Complications of orthography. None in Esperanto.
Different senses of same word, and different words used in same
sense. Esperanto — " one word, one meaning."
Arbitrary and fluctuating idioms. Esperanto — none. Common
sense and common grammar the only limitation to combination
of words.
Complexities of syntax. (Think of the use of the subjunctive
and infinitive in all languages : ou and /x^ in Greek ; indirect
speech in Latin; negatives, comparisons, etc., etc., in all languages.)
Esperanto — none. Common sense the only guide, and no
ambiguity in practice. The perfect limpidity of Esperanto, with
no syntactical rules, is a most instructive proof of the con-
ventionality and arbitrariness of the niceties of syntax in national
languages. After all, the subjunctive was made for man and
not man for the subjunctive.
But readers will say : " It is all very well to show by a
comparison of forms that Esperanto ought to be much easier
than a natural language. But we want facts."
Here are some.
In the last chapter it was mentioned that the present writer
first took up Esperanto in October 1905, worked at it at odd
times, never spoke it or heard it spoken save once, and was able
to follow the proceedings of the Congress of Geneva in August
1906, and talk to all foreigners. From a long experience of
smattering in many languages and learning a few thoroughly,
he is absolutely convinced that this would have been impossible
to him in any national language.
A lady who began Esperanto three weeks before the congress,
and studied it in a grammar by herself one hour each day, was
able to talk in it with all peoples on very simple subjects, and to
follow a considerable amount of the lectures, etc.
Amongst the British folk who attended the congress were many
clerks and commercial people, who had merely learnt Esperanto
by attending a class or a local group meeting once a week, often
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 21
for not many months. They had never been out of England
before, nor learnt any other foreign language. They would have
been utterly at sea if they had attempted to do what they did on
a similar acquaintance with any foreign tongue. But during the
two days spent en route in Paris, where the British party was feted
and shown round by the French Esperantists, on the journey
to Geneva, which English and French made together, on lake
steamboats, at picnics and dinners, etc., etc., here they were,
rattling away with great ease and mutual entertainment. Many
of these came from the North of England, and it was a real eye-
opener, over which easy-going South-Englanders would do well to
ponder, to see what results could be produced by a little energy
and application, building on no previous linguistic training.
The Northern accent was evidently a help in pronouncing the
full-sounding vowels of Esperanto.
One Englishman, who was talking away gaily with the French
samideanoj * was an Esperantist of one year's standing. He had
happened to be at Boulogne in pursuit of a little combined French
and seasiding at the time of the first congress held there, 1905.
One day he got his tongue badly tied up in a cafe, and was helped
out of his linguistic difficulties with the waiter by certain com-
patriots, who wore green stars in their buttonholes,t and sat at
another table conversing in an unknown lingo with a crowd of
foreigners. He made inquiries, and found it was Esperanto they
were talking. He was so much struck by their facility, and the
practical way in which they had set his business to rights in a
minute (the waiter was an Esperantist trained ad hoc !), that he
decided to give up French and go in for Esperanto. This man
was a real learner of French, who had spent a long time on it,
and realized with disgust his impotence to wield it practically.
To judge by his conversation next year at Geneva, he had no
such difficulty with Esperanto. He was quite jubilant over the
change.
* Terse Esperanto word. = partisans of the same idea (i.e. Esperanto),
f The Esperanto badge.
22 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Such examples could be multiplied ad infinitum. No one who
attended a congress could fail to be convinced.
Scientific comparison of the respective difficulty of Esperanto
and other languages, based on properly collected and tabulated
results, does not seem to be yet obtainable. It is difficult to get
high-class schools, where language-teaching is a regular and import-
ant part of the curriculum, to give an artificial language a fair
trial. Properly organized and carried-out tests are greatly to be
desired. If and when they are made, it will probably be found
that Esperanto is not only very easy of acquisition itself, but that
it has a beneficial effect upon other language-learning.*
Meantime, the present writer has carried out one small experi-
ment in a good secondary school for girls, where French and
German are regularly spoken and taught for many hours in the
week. The head-mistress introduced Esperanto as a regular
school subject at the beginning of the Easter term, January
1907. At the end of term a test paper was set, consisting of
English sentences to be rendered into French and Esperanto
without any dictionary or other aid, and one short passage of
English prose to be rendered into both languages with any aid
from books that the pupils wished. The object was to determine
how far a few hours' teaching of Esperanto would produce results
comparable with those obtained in a language learnt for years.
The examinees ranged from fourteen to sixteen years. They
had been learning French from two to seven years, and had a
daily French lesson, besides speaking French on alternate days in
the school. They had learnt Esperanto for ten weeks, from one
to one and a half hours per week. Taking the papers all through,
the Esperanto results were nearly as good as the French.
One last experiment may be mentioned. It was made under
scientific conditions on September 23, 1905. The subject was
an adult, who had learnt French and German for years at school,
and had since taught French to young boys, but was not a linguist
by training or education, having read mathematics at the university.
* See pp. I4S-SS-
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 23
He had had no lessons in Esperanto, and had never studied the
language, his sole knowledge of it being derived from general con-
versation with an enthusiast, who had just returned from the
Geneva Congress. He was disposed to laugh at Esperanto, but
was persuaded to test its possibilities as a language that can be
written intelligibly by an educated person merely from dictionary
by a few rules.
He was given a page of carefully prepared English to translate
into Esperanto. The following written aids were given :
1. Twenty-five crude roots (e.g. lern- =to learn.)
2. One suffix, with explanation of its use.
3. A one-page complete grammar of the Esperanto language.
4. An Esperanto-English and an English-Esperanto dictionary.
He produced a good page of perfectly intelligible Esperanto,
quite free from serious grammatical mistake. He admitted that
he could not translate the passage so well into French or German.
Such experiments go a good way towards proving the case for
an artificial language. More are urgently needed, especially of
the last two types. They serve to convince all those who come
within range of the experiment that an artificial language is a
serious project, and may confer great benefits at small cost. Any
one can make them with a little trouble, if he can secure a
victim. A particularly interesting one is to send a letter in
Esperanto to some English or foreign correspondent, enclosing
a penny key. The letter will certainly be understood, and very
likely the answer will be in Esperanto.
Doubters as to the ease and efficacy of a universal language are
not asked to believe without trial. They are merely asked not
to condemn or be unfavourable until they have a right to an
opinion on the subject. And they are asked to form an opinion
by personally testing, or at any rate by weighing actual facts. " A
fair field and no favour."
The very best way of testing the thing is to study the language
for a few hours and attend a congress. The next congress is to
be held in Cambridge, England, in August 1907.
24 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Nothing is more unscientific or unintelligent than to scoff at
a thing, while refusing to examine whether there is anything
in it.
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE (continued} — THE INTRODUCTION OF
AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE WOULD NOT CAUSE DISLOCATION
IN Chapters II., III., and IV. it was sought to prove that a
universal language is desirable in principle, that it already exists
and is efficient, and that it is very easy. If these propositions are
true, the only valid argument against introducing it at once would
be a demonstration that its introduction is either impracticable
or else attended with such disadvantages as to outweigh the
beneficial results.
Now, it is quite true that certain schemes tending towards
international uniformity of practice and, therefore, ultimately
productive of saving of labour are nevertheless such that their
realization would cause an almost prohibitive dislocation of
present organization. A conspicuous example is the proposed
adoption of the decimal system in coinage and weights and
measures. So great is the loss of time and trouble (and therefore
of money) entailed by using an antiquated and cumbrous system
instead of a simple and modern one that does the work as well,
that the big firm Kynochs some months ago introduced the
decimal system, in spite of the enormous difficulty of having to
keep a double method going. But hitherto, at any rate, the great
disturbance to business that the change would cause has prevented
it from being generally made. Both this matter and the curiously
out-of-date* system of spelling modern English present a fairly
* Out of date, because it has failed to keep pace with the change of
pronunciation. Spelling, i.e. use of writing, was merely a device for repre-
senting to the eye the spoken sounds, so that failure to do this means getting
out of date.
THE QUESTION OF PRACTICE 25
close analogy to the multilingual system of international intercourse,
as regards unprofitable expenditure of time and trouble.
But where the analogy breaks down altogether is in the matter
of obstacles to reform.
Supposing that all the ministries of education in the world
issued orders, that as from January i, 1909, an auxiliary language
should be taught in every government school ; supposing that
merchants took to doing foreign business wholesale in an auxiliary
language, or that men of science took to issuing all their books
and treatises in it ; whose business would be dislocated ? What
literature or books would become obsolete ? Who, except foreign
correspondence clerks and interpreters, would be a penny the
worse ? Surely a useful reform need not be delayed or refused in
the interests of interpreters and correspondence clerks. Even
these would only be eliminated gradually as the reform spread.
There would be absolutely no general confusion analogous to
that following on a sudden change to phonetic spelling or the
metric system, because nothing would be displaced.
Look at the precedents — the adoption of an international
maritime code, and of an international system of cataloguing
which puts bibliography on an equal footing all over the world by
means of a common system of classification. Did any confusion
or dislocation follow on these reforms ? Quite the contrary. It
was enough for England and France to agree on the use of the
maritime code, and the rest of the nations had to come into line.
It would be the same with the official recognition by a group of
powerful nations of an auxiliary language. As soon as the world
recognizes that it is a labour-saving device on a large scale, and a
matter of public convenience on the same plane as codes,
telegraphy, or shorthand, it will no doubt be introduced. But
why wait until there are rival schemes with large followings and
vested interests — in short, until the same obstacles arise to the
choice of an international, artificial, and neutral language, as now
prevent the elevation of any national language into a universal
medium ? The plea of impracticability on the score of dislocation
26 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
might then be valid. At present it is not. To have an easy
language that will carry you anywhere and enable you to read
anything, it is sufficient to wish for it. Only, as we Britons are
being taught to "think imperially," so must the nations learn in
this matter to wish internationally.
VI
INTERNATIONAL ACTION ALREADY TAKEN FOR THE INTRODUCTION
OF AN AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
*"* l~ *
THE main work of educating £he public to " wish internationally,"
the necessary precedent to official action, has naturally in the past
been done by the adherents of the various language-schemes
themselves. An outline of the most important of these movements
is given in the second part of this book.
But apart from these there is now an international organization
that is working for the adoption of an international auxiliary
language, and a brief account of it may be given here.
During the Paris Exhibition of 1900 a number of international
congresses and learned societies, which were holding meetings
there, appointed delegates for the consideration of the inter-
national language question. These delegates met on January 17,
1901, and founded a "Delegation for the Adoption of an
International Auxiliary Language." They drew up the following
declaration, which has been approved by all subsequently elected
delegates :
DELEGATION FOR THE ADOPTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL
AUXILIARY LANGUAGE
Declaration
The undersigned, deputed by various Congresses and Societies
to study the question of an international auxiliary language, have
agreed on the following points :
PROGRAMME OF DELEGATION 27
HI) There is a necessity to choose and to spread the use of an
international language, designed not to replace national idioms in
the individual life of each people, but to serve in the written and
oral relations between persons whose mother-tongues are different),
(2) In order to fulfil its purpose usefully, an international
language must satisfy the following conditions :
ist Condition : It must fulfil the needs of the ordinary
intercourse of social life, of commercial communications, and
of scientific and philosophic relations ;
2nd Condition : It must be easily acquired by every
person of average elementary education, and especially by
persons of European civilization :
3rd Condition : It must not be one of the national
languages.
(3) It is desirable to organize a general DELEGATION repre-
senting all who realize the necessity, as well as the possibility, of
an international auxiliary language, and who are interested in its
employment. This Delegation will appoint a Committee of
members who can meet during a certain period of time. The
purpose of this Committee is defined in the following articles.
(4) The choice of the auxiliary language belongs in the first
instance to the International Association of Academies, or, in case
of failure, to the Committee mentioned in Art. 3.
(5) Consequently the first duty of the Committee will be to
present to the International Association of Academies, in the
required forms, the desires expressed by the constituent Societies
and Congresses, and to invite it respectfully to realize the project
of an auxiliary language.
(6) It will be the duty of the Committee to create a Society for
propaganda, to spread the use of the auxiliary language which is
chosen.
(7) The undersigned, being delegated by various Congresses
and Societies, decide to approach all learned bodies, and all
societies of business men and tourists, in order to obtain their
adhesion to the present project.
28 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
(8) Representatives of regularly constituted Societies which
have agreed to the present Declaration will be admitted as
members of the DELEGATION. •
This declaration is the official programme of the Delegation.
The most important point of principle to note is Art. 2, 3rd Con. :
41 It must not be one of the national languages."
As regards the methods of action prescribed, no attempt is to
be made to bring direct pressure to bear upon any government.
It was rightly felt that the adoption of a universal language is a
matter for private initiative. No government can properly take
up the question, no Ministry of Education can officially introduce
an auxiliary language into the schools under its control, until the
principle has met with a certain amount of general recognition.
The result of a direct appeal to any government or governments
could only have been, in the most favourable case, the appoint-
ment by the government appealed to of a commission to investi-
gate and report on the question. Such a commission would
examine experts and witnesses from representative bodies, such
as academies, institutes, philological and other learned societies.
The best course of action, therefore, for the promoters of an
international language is to apply direct to such bodies, to bring
the question before them and try to gain their support. This is
what the Delegation has done.
Now, there already exists an international organization whose
object is to represent and focus the opinion of learned societies in
all countries. This is the International Association of Academies,
formed in 1900 for the express purpose, according to its statutes,
of promoting " scientific enterprises of international interest."
The delegates feel that the adoption of an international language
comes in the fullest sense within the letter and spirit of this
statute. It is, therefore, to this Association that the choice of
language is, in the first place, left. (Art. 4.)
The Association meets triennially. At its first meeting (Paris
1901) the question of international language was brought before
ATTITUDE OF LEARNED BODIES 29
it by General Se"bert, of the French Institute, but too late to be
included among the agenda of that meeting. The occasion was
important as eliciting an expression of opinion on the part of the
signatories to General Sebert's address. These included twenty-
five members of the French Institute, one of the most
distinguished scientific bodies in the world.
At the second meeting of the Association (London 1904) the
Delegation did not officially present the question for discussion,
but the following paragraph appears in the report of the pro-
ceedings of the Royal Society, which was the host {London
Royal Society, 1904, C. Section of Letters, Thursday, May 26,
1904, p. 33) :
"In the course of the sitting, the chairman (Lord Reay,
President of the British Academy) submitted to the meeting
whether the question of the ' International Auxiliary Language '
should be considered, though not included in the agenda. From
many quarters applications had been made that the subject might
be discussed in some form or other. Prof. Goldziher and
M. Perrot spoke against the suggested discussion, the former
maintaining that the matter was a general question of international
communication, and did not specifically affect scientific interests ;.
the latter announced that he had been commissioned by the
Acadlmie des Inscriptions to oppose the consideration of this
subject. The matter then dropped."
The third meeting of the Association of Academies was held at
Vienna at the end of May 1907, under the auspices of the Vienna
Academy of Science. The question was officially laid before it
by the Delegation. The Association declared, for formal reasons,
that the question did not fall within its competence.*
Up till now only two national academies have shown themselves
favourable to the scheme, those of Vienna and Copenhagen.
* In the voting as to the inclusion of the question in the agenda, eight votes
were cast in favour of international language, and twelve against. This con-
siderable minority shows very encouraging progress in such a body, considering
the newness of the scheme.
30 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
The Vienna Academy commissioned one of its most eminent
members, Prof. Schuchardt, to watch the movement on its behalf,
and to keep it informed on the subject. In 1904 he presented
a report favourable to an international language. He and Prof.
Jespersen are amongst the most famous philologists who support
the movement.
It is not therefore anticipated that the Association of Academies
will take up the question ; and the Delegation, thinking it desirable
not to wait indefinitely till it is converted, has proceeded to the
election of a committee, as provided in Art. 4 of the Declaration.
It consists of twelve members, with powers to add to their
number. It will meet in Paris, October 5, 1907. It is anticipated
that the language chosen will be Esperanto. None of the
members of this international committee are English, all the
English savants invited having declined.
What may be the practical effect of the choice made by this
Committee remains to be seen. In France there is a permanent
Parliamentary Commission for the consideration of questions
affecting public education. This Commission has for some time
had before it a proposal for the introduction of Esperanto into
the State schools of France, signed by twelve members of
Parliament and referred by the House to the Commission. This
year the proposal has been presented again in a different form.
The text of the scheme, which is much more practical than the
former one, is as follows :
"The study of the international language Esperanto will be
included in the curricula of those government schools in which
modern languages are already taught.
" This study will be optional, and candidates who offer for the
various examinations English, German, Italian, Spanish, or Arabic,
will be allowed to offer Esperanto as an additional subject.
" They will be entitled to the advantages enjoyed by candidates
who offer an additional language."
At present it is a very usual thing to offer an additional
language, and if this project passes, Esperanto will be on
FRANCE LEADS EUROPE AGAIN 31
exactly the same footing as other languages for this purpose.
The project of recognizing Esperanto as a principal language
for examination was entirely impracticable. It is far too easy,
and would merely have become a " soft option " and a refuge for
the destitute.
It is said that a majority of the Commission are in favour
of introducing an auxiliary language into the schools, when
one has been chosen by the Delegation or by the Association
of Academies. It is therefore possible that in a year or
two Esperanto may be officially recognized in France; and if
this is so, other nations will have to examine the matter seriously.
Considering that the French are notoriously bad linguists
and, above all other peoples, devoted to the cult of their own
language and literature, it is somewhat remarkable that the
cause of an artificial language should have made more progress
Mtag^Mjp^^MMpPV^^^MB
among them than elsewhere. It might have been anticipated
that the Obstructionist outcry, raised so freely in all countries
by those who imagine that an insidious attack is being made
on taste, culture, and national language and literature^ would
have been particularly loud in France. On the contrary, it is
precisely in that country that the movement has made most
popular progress, and that it numbers the most scientists, scholars,
and distinguished men among its adherents. Is it that history
will one day have to record another case of France leading Europe
in the van of progress ?
Encouraged by the number of distinguished signatures obtained
in France to their petition in 1901, the Delegation drew up a
formula of assent to their Declaration, which they circulate
amongst (i) members of academies, (2) members of universities, in
all countries. They also keep a list of societies of all kinds who
have declared their adherence to the scheme. The latest lists
(February and March 1907) show 1,060 signatures of academicians
and university members, and 273 societies. In both cases the
most influential backing is in France. Thus among the
signatures figure in Paris alone :
10 professors of the College de France ;
8 „ „ „ Faculty of Medicine ;
13 „ „ „ Faculty of Science ;
11 „ „ „ Faculty of Letters ;
12 „ „ „ Ecole Normale ;
37 members of the Academy of Science ;
besides a host of other members of various learned bodies.
Many of these are members of that august body the Institut
de France, and one is a member of the Academic fran9aise —
M. Lavisse,
It is the same in the other French Universities : Lyons
University, 53 professors; Dijon, 34; Caen, 18; Besangon, 15;
Grenoble, 26 ; Marseilles, 56, and so on.
Universities in other lands make a fair showing. America con-
tributes supporters from John Hopkins University, 20 professors ;
Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences, 13 members ; Harvard,
7 professors; Columbia University, 23 professors; Washington
Academy of Science, 19 members ; Columbus University, Ohio,
21 professors, etc. Dublin and Edinburgh both contribute a few.
England is represented by one entry : "Cambridge, 2 professors."
Perhaps the Cambridge Congress will change this somewhat. It
will be strange if any one can actually witness a congress
without having his imagination to some extent stirred by the
possibilities.
A noticeable feature of the action of the Delegation throughout
has been the scientific spirit in which it has gone to work,
and its absolute impartiality as to the language to be adopted.
It has everywhere, in its propaganda and circulars, spoken of
"an international auxiliary language," and has been careful
not to prejudge in any way the question as to which shall be
adopted.
It may be news to many that there are several rival languages
in the field. Even the enthusiastic partisans of Esperanto are
often completely ignorant of the existence of competitors. It
was partly with the object of furnishing full information to the
IMPARTIALITY OF THE DELEGATION 33
Delegates who are to make the choice, that MM. Couturat and
Leau composed their admirable Histoire de la langue universelle.
It contains a brief but scientific account of each language
mentioned, the leading principles of its construction, and an
excellent critique. The main principles are disengaged by the
authors with a masterly clearness and precision of analysis from
the mass of material before them. Though they are careful to
express no personal preference, and let fall nothing which might
unfairly prejudice the delegates in favour of any scheme, it is not
difficult to judge, by a comparison of the scientific critiques, which
of the competing schemes analysed most fully carries out the
principles which experience now shows to be essential to success
for any artificial language.
The impression left is, that whether judged by the test of
conformity to necessary principles, or by the old maxim
" possession is nine points of the law," Esperanto has no serious
rival.
VII
CAN THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE BE LATIN ?
THERE are some who fully admit the desirability of an inter-
national language, but say that we have no need to invent one,
as we have Latin. This tends to be the argument of literary
persons.* They back it up by pointing out that Latin has
already done duty in the Middle Ages as a common medium,
and therefore, they say, what it has once done with success it can
do again.
It is hard to argue with such persons, because they have not
grasped the fact that the nature of international communication
has undergone a complete change, and that therefore there is no
* It has even cropped up again in the able articles in The Times on the
reformed pronunciation of Latin (April 1907).
3
34 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
presumption that the same medium will suffice for carrying it on.
In the Middle Ages the cosmopolitan public was almost entirely
a learned one. The only people who wanted to communicate
with foreigners (except for a certain amount of commerce) were
scholars, and the only things they wanted to communicate about
were learned subjects, mostly of a philosophical or literary nature,
which Latin was adapted to express. The educated public was
extremely small, and foreign travel altogether beyond the reach of
all but the very few. The overwhelming mass of the people were
illiterate, and fast tied to their native spot by lack of pence, lack
of communications, and the general conditions of life.
Now that everybody can read and write and get about, and all
the conditions of life have changed, the cosmopolitan public, so
far from being confined to a handful of scholars and merchants,
extends down to and is largely made up of that terrible modern
production, "the man in the street." It is quite ridiculous to
pretend that because an Erasmus or a Casaubon could carry on
literary controversies, with amazing fluency and hard-hitting, in
Ciceronian Latin, therefore " the bald-headed man at the back of
the omnibus " can give up the time necessary to obtaining a
control of Latin sufficient for the conduct of his affairs, or for
hobnobbing with his kind abroad.
It is waste of time to argue with those who do not realize that
the absolute essentials of any auxiliary language in these days are
ease of acquirement and accessibility to all. There are actually
some newspapers published in Latin and dealing with modern
topics. As an amusement for the learned they are all very well;
but the portentous periphrases to which they are reduced in de-
scribing tramway accidents or motor-cars, the rank obscurity of
the terms in which advertisements of the most ordinary goods
are veiled, ought to be enough to drive their illusions out of the
heads of the modern champions of Latin for practical purposes.
Let these persons take in the Roman Vox Urbis for a month or
two, or get hold of a copy of the London Alaudae, and see how
they feel then.
DOG LATIN DAMNED 35
A dim perception of the requirements of the modern world has
inspired the various schemes for a barbarized and simplified Latin.
It is almost incredible that the authors of such schemes cannot
see that debased Latin suffers from all the defects alleged against
an artificial language, plus quite prohibitory ones of its own,
without attaining the corresponding advantages. It is just as
artificial as an entirely new language, without being nearly so easy
(especially to speak) or adaptable to modern life. It sins against
the cardinal principle that an auxiliary language shall inflict no
damage upon any natural one. In short, it disgusts both parties
(scholars and tradesmen), and satisfies the requirements of neither.
Those who want an easy language, within the reach of the in-
telligent person with only an elementary school groundwork of
education, don't get it ; and the scholarly party, who treat any
Artificial language as a cheap commercial schemeT'Jhave their
teeth set on edge by unparalleled barbarisms, which must militate
most seriously against the correct use of classical Latin.
Such schemes are dead of their own dogginess.
Latin, pure or mongrel, won't do.
VIII
CAN THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE BE GREEK ?
THIS chapter might be as short and dogmatic as Mark Twain's
celebrated chapter upon snakes in Ireland. It would be enough
to merely answer " No," but that the indefatigable Mr. Hender-
son, after running through three artificial languages of his own,
has come to the conclusion that Greek is the thing. Certainly,
as regards flexibility and power of word-formation, Greek would
be better than Latin on its own merits. But it is too hard, and
the scheme has nothing practical about it,
36 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
IX
CAN THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE BE A MODERN LANGUAGE?
JINGOES are not wanting who say that it is unpatriotic of any
Englishman to be a party to the introduction of a neutral
language, because English is manifestly destined to be the
language of the world.
Reader, did you ever indulge in the mild witticism of asking
a foreigner where the English are mentioned in the Bible ? The
answer, of course, is, The meek shall inherit the earth. But if
the foreigner is bigger than you, don't tell him until you have got
to a safe distance.
It is this (attitude of self-assertion, coupled with the tacit
assumption that the others don't count much, that makes the
English so detested on the Continent. It is well reflected in
the claim to have their own language adopted as a common
means of communication between all other peoples/i
This claim is not put forward in any spirit of deliberate
insolence, or with the intention of ignoring other people's feel-
ings ; though the very unconsciousness of any arrogance in such
an attitude really renders it more galling, on account of the
tacit conclusion involved therein. It is merely the outcome of
ignorance and of that want of tact which consists of inability to put
oneself at the point of view of others. The interests of English-
speaking peoples are enormous, far greater than those of any
other group of nations united by a common bond of speech.
But it is a form of narrow provincial ignorance to refuse on that
account to recognize that, compared to the whole bulk of civilized
people, the English speakers are in a small minority, and that
the majority includes many high-spirited peoples with a strongly
developed sense of nationality, and destined to play a very
important part in the history of the worfdJ Any sort of move-
ment to have English or any other national language adopted
officially as a universal auxiliary language would at once entail a
BRITISH IMPERIALISM NOT PAN-BRITONISM 37
boycott of the favoured language on the part of a ring of other
powerful nations, who could not afford to give a rival the benefit
of this augmented prestige. Andui is precisely upon universality
of adoption that the great use of an international language will
dependy
To sum up : the ignorance of contemporary history and fact
displayed in the suggestion of giving the preference to any
national language is only equalled by its futility, for it is futile
to put forward a scheme that has no chance of even being
discussed internationally as a matter of practical politics.
A proof is that precisely the same objection to an auxiliary
language is raised in France — namely, that it is unpatriotic,
because it would displace French from that proud position.
The above remarks will be wholly misunderstood if they are
taken to imply any spirit of Little Englandism on the part of the
writer. On the contrary, he is ardently convinced of the mighty
role that will be played among the nations by the British Empire,
and has had much good reason in going to and fro in the world
to ponder on its unique achievement in the past. When fully
organized on some terms of partnership as demanded by the
growth of the Colonies, it will go even farther in the future.
But all this has nothing to do with an international language.
Howsoever mighty, the British Empire will not swallow up the
earth — at any rate, not in our time. And till it does, it is not
practical politics to expect other peoples to recognize English as
the international language as between themselves.
There are, in fact, two quite separate questions :
(1) Supposing it is possible for any national language to become
the international one, which has the best claims ?
(2) Is it possible for any national language to be adopted as the
international one ?
To question (i) the answer undoubtedly is ''English." It is
already the language of the sea, and to a large extent the medium
for transacting business between Europeans and Asiatic races, or
38 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
between the Asiatic races themselves.* Moreover, except for its
pronunciation and spelling, it has intrinsically the best claim, as
being the furthest advanced along the common line of development
of Aryan language.t.. But the discussion of this question has no
more than an academic interest, because the answer to question (2)
is, for political reasons, in the negative.
CAN THE EVOLUTION OF AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE BE
LEFT TO THE PROCESS OF NATURAL SELECTION BY FREE
COMPETITION ?
"You base your argument for an international language mainly on
the operation of economical laws. Be consistent, then ; leave the
matter to Nature. By unlimited competition the best language
is bound to be evolved and come to the top in the struggle for
life. Let the fittest survive, and don't bother about Esperanto."
On a first hearing this sounds fairly plausible, yet it is
honeycombed with error.
In the first place, it proves too much. The same argument
could be adduced for the abandonment of effort of all kind
whatever to improve upon Nature and her processes. " You
can walk and run and swim. Don't bother to invent boats and
bicycles, trains and aeroplanes, that will bring you more into
touch with other peoples. Let Nature evolve the best form of
international locomotion."
Again, Nature does not tend towards uniformity. She produces
an infinity of variety in the individual, and out of this variety
she selects and evolves certain prevailing types. But these types
* Another argument is that (based on the comparative numbers of people
who speak the principal European languages as their mother-tongue. No
accurate statistics exist, but an interesting estimate is quoted by Couturat
and Leau (Hist, de la langue universelle), which puts English first with about
120,000,000, followed at a distance of 30,000,000 or 40,000,000 by Russian.
f This is explained in Part III., chap, i., q.v.
39
differ widely within the limits of the world under varying
conditions of environment. What we are seeking to establish is
world-wide uniformity, in spite of difference of environment.
Again, the argument confuses a sub- characteristic with an
organism. ^A. language is not an organism, but one of the
characteristics of man?) After the lapse of countless ages there
are grey horses and black, bay and chestnut, presumably because
greyness and blackness and the rest are incidental characteristics
of a horse. No one of them gives him a greater advantage than
the others in his struggle for life, or helps him particularly to
perform the functions of horsiness.
Just in the same way a man may be equally well equipped with
all the qualities that make for success, whether he speaks English
or French, Russian or Japanese. It cannot be shown that
language materially helps one people as against another, or even
that the best race evolves the best language.* Take the last
mentioned. If there is one people on the face of the globe who
rejoice in an impossible language, it is the Japanese. In the
early days of foreign intercourse a good Jesuit father reported
that the Japanese were courteous and polite to strangers, but
their language was plainly the invention of the devil. To a
modern mind the language may have outlived its putative father,
but its reputation has not improved, so far as ease is concerned.
Yet who will say that it has impaired national efficiency ?
C£he fact is, that for purposes of transaction of ordinary affairs
by those who speak it as a mother tongue, one language is about
as good as another. Whether it survives or spreads depends,
not upon its intrinsic qualities as a language, but upon the
success of the race that speaks it.t There is, therefore, no
* Greece went down before Rome. Which was the better race, meaning
by " better" the more capable of imposing its language and manners on the
world ? Yet who doubts that Greek was the better language f
f A curious phenomenon of our day suggests a possible partial exception.
In Switzerland French is steadily encroaching and bearing back German.
Is this owing to the intrinsic qualities of French language and civilization ?
Materially, the Germans have the greater expansive power.
40 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
presumption that the best or the most suitable or the easiest
language will spread over the world by its own merits, or even
that any easy or regular language will be evolved. Printing
and education have altogether arrested the natural process of
evolution of language on the lips of men. This is one justification
for the application of new artificial reforms to language and
spelling, which tend no longer to move naturally with the times
as heretofore")
As regards free competition between rival artificial languages,
the same considerations hold good. The worse might prevail
just as easily as the better, because the determining factor is not
the nature of the language, but the influence and general capacity
of the rival backers. Of course a very bad or hard artificial
language would not prevail against an easy one. But beyond a
certain point of ease a universal language cannot go (ease
meaning the ease of all), and that limit has probably been about
reached now. Between future schemes there will be such a mere
fractional difference in respect of ease, that competition becomes
altogether beside the point. The thing is to take an easy one
and stick to it.
XI
OBJECTIONS TO AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE ON AESTHETIC
GROtJNDS
ONE of the commonest arguments that advocates of a universal
language have to face runs something like this :
" Yes, there really does seem to be something in what you
say — your language may save time and money and grease the
wheels of business ; but, after all,^we are not all business men,
nor are we all out after dollars. Just think what a dull, drab
uniformity your scheme would lay over the lands like a pall.
By the artificial removal of natural barriers you are aiding and
abetting the vulgarization of the world. You are doing what
WHO IS THE VANDALIZER? 41
in you lies to eliminate the racy, the local, the picturesque.
The tongues of men are as stately trees, set deep in the black,
mouldering soil of the past, and rich with its secular decay.
The leaves are the words of the people, old yet ever new, and
the flowers are the nation's poems, drawing their life from the
thousand tiny roots that twist and twine unseen about the lives
and struggles of bygone men. You are calling to us to come
forth from the cool seclusion of these trees' shade, to leave
their delights and toil in the glare of the world at raising a
mushroom growth on a dull, featureless plain that reaches
everywhither.} Modern Macbeths, sophisticated by your modernity
and adding perverted instinct to crime, you are murdering not
sleep, but dreams — dreams that haunt about the mouldering lodges
of the past, and soften the contact with reality by lending their
own colouring atmosphere. You are hammering the last nail
into the coffin of the old leisurely past, the past that raised the
cathedrals, to which taste and feeling were of supreme moment,
and when man put something of himself into his every work."
\The man must be indeed dull of soul who cannot join in a
dirge for the beauty of the vanishing past. Turn where we
may now, we find the same railways, the same trams, music-halls,
coats and trousers. The mad rush of modernity with its level-
ling tendency really is killing off what is quaint, out of the way,
and racy of the soil. But why visit the sins of modernity upon
an international language ? The last sentence of the indictment
itself suggests the line of defence. " You are hammering the
last nail into the coffin of the old, leisurely past. . . ty
Quite so, you are.
The universal ability to use an auxiliary language on occasion
rounds off and completes the levelling process. But the old leisurely
past will not be any the less dead, or any the less effectually
buried, if one nail is not driven home in the coffin. The slayer
is modernity at large, made up of science, steam, democracy,
universal education, and many other things — but especially
universal education. And the verdict can be, at the most,
42 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
justifiable, or at any rate inevitable, pasticide. You cannot eat
your cake and have it ; you cannot kill off all the bad things
and keep all the good ones. With sterilization goes purification,
pasticide may be accompanied by pasteurization. At any rate,
"the old order changeth," and you've got to let it change.
The whole history of the "progress" of the world, meaning
often material progress, is eloquent of the lesson that ft is vain
to set artificial limits to advancing invention.") The substitution
of cheap mechanical processes of manufacYure for hand-work
involved untold misery to many, and incidentally led to the
partial disappearance of a type of character which the world could
ill afford to lose, and which we would give much to be able to
bring back. The old semi-artist-craftsman, with hand and eye
really trained up to something like their highest level of capacity,
with knowledge not wide, but deep, and all gained from experience,
and not from books or technical education — this type of character
is a loss. Many, with the gravest reason, are dissatisfied with the
type which has already largely replaced it, and which will replace
it for good or evil, but ever more swiftly and surely. But no well-
judging person proposes on that account to forgo the material
advantages conferred upon mankind by the invention of machinery.
If the world rejects, on sentimental grounds, the labour-saving in-
vention of international language, it will be flying in the face of
economic history, and it will not appreciably retard the disappear-
ance of the picturesque.
There is another type of argument which may also be classed
as aesthetic, but which differs somewhat from the one just dis-
cussed. It emanates chiefly from literary men and scholars, and
may be presented as follows :
" Language is precious, and worthy of study, inasmuch as it
enshrines the imperishable monuments of the thought and genius
of the race on whose lips it was born. The study of the words
and forms in which a nation clothed its thoughts throws many a
ray of light on phases of the evolution of the race itself, which
NOT AN END, BUT A MEANS 43
would otherwise have remained dark. ^The history of a language
and literature is in some measure an epitome of the history of a
people. We miss all these points of interest in your artificial
language, and we shall, therefore, refuse to study it, and hereby
commit it to the devil/y
This is a particularly humiliating type of answer to receive,
because it implies that one is an ass. In truth the man who
should invent an artificial language and invite the world to study
it for itself would be a fool, and a very swell-headed fool at that.
It seems in vain to point this out to persons who use the above
argument ; or to explain to them that they would be aided in
their study of languages that do repay study by the introduction
of an easy international language, because many commentaries,
etc., would become accessible to them, which are not so now, or
only at the expense of deciphering some difficult language in
which the commentary is written, the commentary itself being
in no sense literature, and its form a matter of complete
indifference.
Back comes the old answer in one form or another, every varia-
tion tainted with the heresy that the language is to be studied as
a language for itself.
Perhaps the least tedious way of giving an idea of this kind of
opposition, and the way in which it may be met, is to give some
extracts from a scholar's letter, and the writer's answer. The letter
is fairly typical.
\1
" MY DEAR - , /T
" Many thanks for your long letter on Esperanto. . . .
According to the books, Esperanto can be learnt quickly by
any one. VThis means that they will forget it quite as rapidly ;
for what is easily acquired is soon forgotten. . . Tj In my humble
opinion, an Englishman who knows French and German would do
much better to devote any extra time at his disposal to the study
of his own language, which, I repeat, is one of the most delicate
mediums of communication now in existence. ^It has taken
44 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
centuries to construct, while Esperanto was apparently created
in a few hours. One is God's handiwork, and the other a man's
toy. Personally, any living language interests me more than
Esperanto"'? I am sorry I am such a heretic, but I fear my love
for the English language carries me away. . . .
" Yours ever,
The points that rankle are artificiality and lack of a history.
MY DEAR
"I really can't put it any more plainly, so I must just repeat
it : we are not trying to introduce a language that has any interest
for anybody in itself. An international language is a labour-saving
device. The question is, Is it an efficient one ? If so, it must
surely be adopted. The world wants to be saved labour. It never
pays permanently to do things a longer way, if the shorter one
produces equally good results. No one has yet proved, or, in
my opinion, advanced any decent argument tending to show, that
the results produced by a universal language will not be just as
good for many purposes* as those produced by national languages.
That the results are more economically produced surely does not
admit of doubt.
" ' Personally, any living language interests me more than
Esperanto.' Of course it does. So it does me, and most
sensible people. But what the digamma does it matter to
Esperanto whether we are interested in it or not ? It is not
there to interest us. The question is, Does it, or not, save us
or others unprofitable labour on a large scale ? Neither you nor
most sane persons are probably particularly interested in short-
hand or Morse codes or any signalling systems. Yet they
bear up.
* And those very important ones, relatively to man's whole field of
activity.
A SCHOLAR'S HERESY 45
"Do try to see that we think there is a certain felt want,
amongst countless numbers of persons, which is much more
efficiently and economically met by a neutral, easy, international
language, than by any national one. That is the position you
have got to controvert, if you are seriously to weaken the
argument in favour of an international language. If you say
that it is not a want felt by many people, I can only say, at the
risk of being dogmatic, that you are wrong. I happen to know
that it is.* The question then is, Is there an easy way of meeting
that want? And the equally certain and well-grounded answer
is, There is. ...
" As to your argument that what is easy is more easily forgotten
— it is true. But I think you must see that, neither in practice
nor in principle, does it or should it make for choosing the
harder way of arriving at a given result. Chance the forgetting,
if necessary re-learning as required, and use the time and effort
saved for some more remunerative purpose.
" ' One is God's handiwork, the other a man's toy.' I should
have said the first was man's lip-work, but I see what you mean.
It is God working through his creature's natural development.
The same is equally true of all man's ' toys.' Man moulded his
language in pursuance of his ends under God. Under the same
guidance he moulded the steam engine, the typewriter, shorthand,
the semaphore, and all kinds of signals. What are the philosophical
differentia that make Esperanto a toy, and natural language God's
handiwork? Apparently the fact that Esperanto is 'artificial,'
i.e. consciously produced by art. If this is the criterion, beware
lest you damn man's works wholesale. If this is not the criterion,
what is ?
* I have before me a list of 119 societies, representing many different lines
of work and play and many nations, who had already in 1903 given in their
adhesion to a scheme for an international language. Technical terms alone
(in all departments of study) want standardizing, and an international
language affords the best means. The number of societies is now (1907)
over 270.
46
" ' An Englishman who knows French and German would do
much better to devote any extra time at his disposal to the study
of his own language.' Yes — if his object is to qualify as an artist
in language. No — if his object is to save time and trouble in
communicating with foreigners. You must compare like with like.
It is unscientific and a confusion of thought to change the subject-
matter of a man's employment of his time on grounds other than
those fairly intercomparable. You have dictated as to how a man
should employ his time by changing his object in employing his
time. This makes the whole discussion irrelevant, in so far as
it deals with the comparative advantage of studying one language
or the other.
" Time's up ! I have missed my after-lunch walk, and I expect
only hardened your heart.
" Yours,
And I had !
XII
WILL AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE DISCOURAGE THE STUDY
OF MODERN LANGUAGES, AND THUS BE DETRIMENTAL TO
CULTURE ? — PARALLEL WITH THE QUESTION OF COMPULSORY
GREEK
THERE is a broad, twofold distinction in the aims with which the
study of foreign languages is organized and undertaken.
It serves : first, purely utilitarian ends, and is a means ;
secondly/fthe purposes of culture, and is an end in itselfo
An international auxiliary language aims at supplanting the
first type of study completely, and, as it claims, with profit to the
students. The second type it (hopes to leave wholly intact, and
disclaims any attempt to interfere with it in any way. How far
is this possible fj
The answer depends mainly upon the efficiency of the alter-
FORCED POLYGLOTTISM A HANDICAP 47
native offered by the new-comer in each case as a possible
substitute.
Firstly, if it is true that a great portion of the human race,
especially in the big polyglot empires and the smaller states of
Europe, are groaning under the incubus of the language difficulty,
and have to spend years on the study of mere words before they
can fit themselves for an active career, then the abolition of
this heavy handicap on due preparation for each man's proper
business in life will liberate much time for more profitable studies.
It is certain that the majority of mankind are non-linguistic
by nature and inclination rather than linguistic — i.e. that
the best chance of developing their natural capacities to the
utmost and making them useful and agreeable members of society
does not lie in making all alike swallow an overdose of foreign
languages during the acquisitive years of youth. By doing so,
vast waste is caused, taking the world round. As to the attain-
ment of the object of this first type of language study, not only
is it as efficiently secured by a single universal language, but far
more so. Ex hypothesi the object is utilitarian ; the language is
a means. Well, a universal language is a better means than a
national one — first, because, being universal, it is a means to
more ; secondly, because, being easy and one, it is a means that
more people can grasp and employ. In fact, it is in this field an
efficient substitute ; it saves much, without losing anything.
{For the second type of language-study, on the other hand,
where the end is culture and the language is studied for itself
and in no wise as an indifferent means, a universal artificial
language offers no substitute at aly This end is not on its
programme. Why, then, should any language-study that is
organized in view of culture be given up on its account ?
£Jt may, of course, be said that the time given to it by those
who pursue culture in language will be taken from the time
devoted to more worthy linguistic study, and will therefore
prejudice the learning of other languages^) This is a point of
technical pedagogics or psychology. There is very good reason,
48 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
from the standpoint of these sciences, to believe that a study of
a simple type-tongue would, on the contrary, pay for itself in
increased facility in learning other languages. But this is more
fully discussed in the chapter for teachers (see pp. 145-55).
The question, however, is not in reality quite so simple as this.
There is no water-tight partition between utilitarian and cultural
language-study. They act and react upon each other. (There
really is some ground for anxiety, lest the provision of facilities
for learning an easy artificial language at your door may prevent
people from going out of their way to learn national ones, which
would have awakened scholarly instincts^ in them. The cause of
culture would thus sustain some real hurt/
The question is another phase — a wider and lower-grade phase
— of the great compulsory Greek question at Oxford and Cam-
bridge. It affects the masses, whereas the Greek controversy
affects the few at the top; but otherwise the issue at stake is
essentially the same.
In both cases the bedrock of the problem is this, Can we
afford to put the many through a grind, which is on the whole
unprofitable to them and does not attain its object of conferring
culture, in order to uphold the traditional system in the interests
of the few ? In neither case do the reformers desire to suppress
the study of the old culture-giving language ; rather it is hoped
that the interests of scholarly and liberal learning will benefit by
being freed from the dead weight of grammar grinders, whose
mechanical performance and monkey antics are merely a dodge
to catch a copper from the examiners.
When Greek is no longer bolstered up by the protection of
compulsion, some of the present bounty-fed (i.e. compulsion-fed)
facilities for its study will no doubt disappear from the schools
which are at present forced to provide them. With them will be
lost some recruits who would have been led by the facilities to
study Greek, and would have studied it to their profit. On the
other hand, the university will be open to numbers of students
who are at present shut out by the Greek tariff. Another barrier
REFUTED BY PHILOLOGY 49
against modernity will go down, and democracy make another
step out of the proverbial gutter towards the university.
Similarly, the possession of a universally understood medium
of communication will in some cases deter people from making
the effort to study real language, with all the treasures of original
literature to which it is the key.
'Tis true, 'tis pity ; and pity 'tis, 'tis true.
But — and this is the great point — it will open the cosmopolitan
outlook to countless thousands who could never hope to grapple
successfully with even one national language. This cannot be a
small gain.
It all comes back to this — you cannot eat your cake and have it
too. II faut souffrir pour lire belle. The international language
has the defects of its qualities. But then its qualities are great,
and the world is their sphere of utility.
XIII
OBJECTION TO AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE ON THE GROUND
THAT IT WILL SOON SPLIT UP INTO DIALECTS
THIS is a particularly unfortunate objection, because it displays
a radical ignorance of the history of language, and of the
conditions under which it develops.
In the first place, the whole tendency of language in the
modern world is towards disappearance of local dialects, and
their absorption into a uniform literary language. The dialects of
England are almost dead before the onset of universal education,
and the great work of Dr. Wright was only just in time to rescue
them from oblivion. Even one generation hence it will be
impossible to collect much of the local speech recorded in his
dictionary. It is the same in Germany and everywhere, though,
of course, all countries are not equally advanced in this respect.
A standard form of words and grammar is fixed by print for the
4
50 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
literary language, and when every one can read and write, it is all
up with national evolution of language, such as has produced all
national languages. A gradual change of the phonetic value given
to the written symbols there may be. This has been pre-eminently
the case in England, though even this will now be arrested by
universal education. But a change of forms or of grammar can
only be indefinitely slight and gradual. When it takes place, it
reflects a common advance of the literary language, and not local
or dialectical variation (though the common advance may have
originally spread from one locality).
In the second place, dialects are variations that spring up
under the stress of local circumstance in the familiar every-day
unconscious use of a common mother tongue among people of
the same race and inhabiting the same district. Now, these are
the very circumstances in which an auxiliary international language
never can, and never will, be used. The only exception is the
case of people meeting together for the conscious practice of the
language or using it in jest.
There are no occasions when an international language would
be naturally used when any variation from standard usage would
not be a distinct disadvantage as tending to unintelligibility. In
short, a neutral language consciously learned as a means of com-
munication with strangers is not on an equal footing with, or
exposed to the same influences as, a mother tongue used by
people every day under like conditions.
A cardinal point of difference is well illustrated by Esperanto.
The whole foundation of the language, vocabulary, grammar, and
everything else, is contained in one small book of a few pages,
called Fundamento de Esperanto, No change can be made in this
except by a competent elected international authority. Of course,
no text-books or grammars will be authorized for the use of any
nation that are not in accordance with the Fundamento. People
will make mistakes, of course, just as they make mistakes in any
foreign language, and they can help themselves out with any
words from other languages, just as they do now when their
DOGMA DISPELS DOUBT 51
French or German fails them. But the standard is always there,
simple and short, to correct any aberration, and there is no room
for any alterations in form or structure to creep in.
XIV
OBJECTION THAT THE PRESENT INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
(ESPERANTO) is TOO DOGMATIC. AND REFUSES TO PROFIT BY
CRITICISM
IT is true that Esperantists refuse to make any change in their
language at present, and this is found irritating by some able
critics, who wrongly imagine that this attitude amounts to a
claim of perfection for Esperanto. The matter may be easily put
right.
The inadmissibility of change (even for the better) is purely
a matter of policy and dictated by practical considerations.
Esperantists make no claim to infallibility ; they want to see
their language universally adopted, and they want to see it as
perfect as possible. Actual and bitter experience shows that the
international language which admits change is lost. Universal
acceptance and present change are incompatible. Esperantists,
therefore, bow to the inevitable and deliberately choose to con-
centrate for the present on acceptance. General acceptance,
indeed, while it imposes upon the present body of Esperantists
self-restraint in abstaining from change, is in reality the essential
condition of profitable future amendment. When an international
language has attained the degree of dissemination already enjoyed
by Esperanto, the only safe kind of change that can be made is
a posteriori, not a priori. When Esperanto has been officially
adopted and comes into wide use, actual experience and consensus
of usage amongst its leading writers will indicate the modifications
that are ripe for official adoption. The competent international
official authority will then from time to time duly register such
changes, and they will become officially part of the language.
52 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Till then, any change can only cause confusion and alienate
support. No one is going to spend time learning a language
which is one thing to-day and another thing to-morrow. When
the time comes for change, the authority will only proceed
cautiously one step at a time, and its decrees will only set the seal
upon that which actual use has hit off.
This, then, is the explanation of the famous adjective
" netusebla," applied by Dr. Zamenhof to his language, and so
much resented in certain quarters. Surely not only is this degree of
dogmatism amply justified by practical considerations, but it would
amount to positive imprudence on the part of Esperantists to act
otherwise. If the inventor of the language can show sufficient
self-restraint, after long years spent in touching and retouching his
language, to hold his hand at a given point (and he has declared
that self-restraint is necessary), surely others need not be hurt at
their suggestions not being adopted, even though they may in
some cases be real improvements.
The following extracts, translated from the Preface to Funda-
mento de Esperanto (the written basic law of Esperanto), should
set the question in the right light. It will be seen that Dr.
Zamenhof expressly contemplates the " gradual perfection "
(perfektigado) of his language, and by no means lays claim to
finality or infallibility.
"Having the character of fundament, the three works
reprinted in this volume must be above all inviolable (netuseblaj}.
. . , The fundament must remain inviolable even with its
errors. . . . Having once lost its strict inviolability, the work
would lose its exceptional and necessary character of dogmatic
fundamentality ; and the user, finding one translation in one
edition, and another in another, would have no security that I
should not make another change to-morrow, and his confidence
and support would be lost.
"To any one who shows me an expression that is not good in
the Fundamental book, I shall calmly reply : Yes, it is an error ;
but it must remain inviolable, for it belongs to the fundamental
ENRICHMENT BY ADDITION: NO CHANGE 53
document, in which no one has the right to make any change. . . .
I showed, in principle, how the strict inviolability of the Funda-
mento will always preserve the unity of our language, without
however preventing the language not only from becoming richer,
but even from constantly becoming more perfect. But in practice
we (for causes already many times explained) must naturally be
very cautious in the process of ' perfecting ' the language : (a)
we must not do this light-heartedly, but only in case of absolute
necessity ; (b) it can only be done (after mature judgment) by
some central institution, having indisputable authority for the
whole Esperanto world, and not by any private persons. . . .
" Until the time when a central authoritative institution shall
decide to augment (never to change) the existing fundament by
rendering official new words or rules, everything good, which
is not to be found in the Fundamento de Esperanto, is to be
regarded not as compulsory, but only as recommended."
XV
SUMMARY OF OBJECTIONS TO AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
AN attempt has been made in the preceding chapters to deal with
the more important and obvious arguments put forward by those
who will hear nothing of an international language. The objec-
tions are, however, so numerous, cover such a wide field, and in
some cases are so mutually destructive, that it may be instructive
to present them in an orderly classification.
For there we have them all "at one fell swoop,"
Instead of being scattered through the pages ;
They stand forth marshalled in a handsome troop,
To meet the ingenuous youth of future ages.
BYRON.
Let us hope that they will die of exposure, like the famous
appendix pilloried by Byron, and that the ingenuous one will be
able to regard them as literary curiosities.
54 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
If the business of an argument is to be unanswerable, the place
of honour certainly belongs to the religious argument. Any one
who really believes that an international language is an impious
attempt to reverse the judgment of Babel will continue firm
in his faith, though one speak with the tongues of men and
of angels.
Here, then, are the objections, classified according to content.
J
OBJECTIONS TO AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
I. Religious.
It is doomed to confusion, because it reverses the judgment of
Babel.
II. Aesthetic and sentimental.
(1) It is a cheap commercial scheme, unworthy of the attention
of scholars.
(2) It vulgarizes the world and tends to dull uniformity.
(3) It weakens patriotism by diluting national spirit with
cosmopolitanism.
(4) It has no history, no link with the past.
(5) It is artificial, which is a sin in itself.
III. Political.
(1) It is against English [Frenchmen read "French"] interests,
as diverting prestige from the national tongue.
(2) It is socialistic and even anarchical in tendency, and will
facilitate the operations of the international disturbers of society.
IV. Literary and linguistic.
(1) Lacking history and associations, it is unpoetical and
unsuited to render the finer shades of thought and feeling. It
will, therefore, degrade and distort the monuments of national
literatures which may be translated into it.
(2) It may even discourage authors, ambitious of a wide public,
from writing in their own tongue. Original works in the artificial
A SEA OF TROUBLES 55
language can never have the fine savour of a master's use of his
mother tongue.
(3) Its precisely formal and logical vocabulary and construction
debauches the literary sense for the niceties of expression. There-
fore, even if not used as a substitute for the mother tongue, its
concurrent use, which will be thrust on everybody, will weaken
the best work in native idioms.
(4) It will split up into dialects.
(5) Pronunciation will vary so as to be unintelligible.
(6) It is too dogmatic, and refuses to profit by criticism.
V. Educational and cultural.
(1) It will prejudice the study of modern languages.
(2) It will provide a " soft option " for examinees.
VI. Personal and particular.
It is prejudicial to the vested interests of modern language
teachers, foreign correspondence clerks, interpreters, multilingual
waiters and hotel porters.
VII. Technical.
This heading includes the criticisms in detail of various
schemes — e.g. it is urged against Esperanto that its accent is
monotonous ; that its accusative case is unnecessary ; that its
principle of word-formation from roots is not strictly logical ;
that its vocabulary is too Romance; that its vocabulary is not
Romance enough ; and so forth.
VIII. Popular.
(1) It is a wild idea put forth by a set of cranks, who would be
better occupied in something else.
(2) It is impossible.
(3) It is too hard : life isn't long enough.
(4) It is not hard enough : lessons will be too quickly done,
and will not sink into the mind.
(5) It will oust all other languages, and thus destroy each
nation's birthright and heritage.
56 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
(6) It will not come in in our time, so the question is of no
interest except to our grandchildren.
(7) It is doomed to failure — look at Volapiik !
(8) There are quite enough languages already.
(9) You have to learn three or four languages in order to
understand Esperanto.
(10) You cannot know it without learning it.
(n) You have to wear a green star.
Pains have been taken to make this list exhaustive. If any
reader can think of another objection, he is requested to com-
municate with the author.
Most of the serious arguments have been already dealt with, so
that not many words need be said here. As regards No. VII.
(Technical), this is not the place to deal with actual criticisms
of the language (Esperanto) that holds the field. The reader
will not be in a position to judge of them till he has learnt it.
Suffice it to say that they can all be met, and some of the points
criticised as vices are, in reality, virtues in an artificial language.
As for Nos. II. and IV. (Sentimental and Literary), most of
these objections are due to the old heresy of the literary man,
that an artificial language claims to compete with natural languages
as a language. Once realize that it is primarily a labour-saving
device, and therefore to be judged like any other modern inven-
tion such as telegraphy or shorthand, and most of these objections
fall to the ground.
A good many of the objections cannot be taken seriously
(though they have all been seriously made), or refute themselves
or each other. No. VIII. (10) sounds like a fake, but this was
the criticism of a scholar and linguist who had been persuaded
to look at Esperanto. He complained that though he, knowing
Latin, French, Italian, German, and English, could read it without
ever having learnt it, ordinary Englishmen could not. It is usual
to judge an invention by efficiency compared to cost, but if an
appliance is to be condemned because it needs some trouble to
master it, then not many inventions will survive.
STILL AT SEA 57
No. VIII. (9) is of course a mistake. It is like saying that you
must practice looping the loop or circus-riding in order to keep
your balance on a bicycle. The greater, of course, includes the
less ; but it is better in both cases to begin with the less. It is
much more reasonable to reverse the argument and say : If you
begin by learning Esperanto, you will possess a valuable aid
towards learning three or four national languages.
No. VIII. (5) is absurd. It is the hardest thing in the world
to extirpate a national language ; and all the forces of organized
repression (e.g. in unhappy Poland) are finding the task too much
for them. What inducement have the common people, who form
the bulk of the population in every land, to substitute in their
home intercourse for their own language one that they have to
learn, if at all, artificially at school ? Only those who have much
international intercourse will ever become really at home in
international language — i.e. sufficiently at home to make it possible
to use it indifferently as a substitute for their mother-tongue;
and people who engage in prolonged and continuous international
intercourse, though numerous, will always be in a minority.
XVI
THE WIDER COSMOPOLITANISM — THE COMING OF ASIA
IN the civilized West, where pleasure, business, and science are
daily forging new ties of common interests between the nations,
those engaged in such pursuits have clearly much to gain from
the simplification of their pursuits by a common language. But
let us look ahead a little further still. It may well be that the
outstanding feature of the twentieth century in history will be the
coming into line of the peoples of Asia with their pioneer brethren
of the West. Look where you will, everywhere the symptoms are
plain for those who can read them. Japan has led the way.
China is following, and will not be far behind ; eventually, as the
Japanese themselves foresee, she will probably outstrip Japan, if
58 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
not the world. There seems to be no ground, ethnological or
otherwise, for thinking that the lagging behind of Asia in modern
civilization corresponds to a real inferiority of powers, mental or
physical, in the individual Asiatic. Experience shows that under
suitable conditions the Asiatic can efficiently handle all the white
man's tools and weapons ; the complete coming up to date is
largely a matter of organization, education, and the possession of
a few really able men at the head of affairs. Given these,
progress may be astonishingly quick. Europeans do not yet seem
to have grasped at all adequately the real significance of the last
fifty years of Japanese history. Do they really think that the
Chinaman is inferior to the Japanese ? If so, let them ask any
residents in the Far East. Can it be maintained that a generation
ago the peasant of Eastern Europe was ahead of the country
Chinaman ? But the last few years have shown how swiftly
modern civilization spreads, both in Europe and America, from
the comparatively small group of nations which in the main have
worked it out to the others, till lately considered backward and
semi-barbarous. And this is the case not merely with the material
products of civilization, the railway and the telegraph, but also as
regards its divers manifestations in all that concerns the life of the
people — constitutional government with growth of representative,
elected authorities and democracy ; universal education with
universal power of reading and consequent birth of a cheap press ;
rise of industry and consequent growth of towns; universal
military service and discipline, now in force in most lands ; rise of
a moneyed and leisured class and consequent growth of sport,
and of all kinds of clubs and societies for promoting various
interests, social, sporting, political, religious, educational, philan-
thropic, and so forth. In fact, the more the material side of life
is " modernized," the more closely do the citizens of all lands
approximate to one another in their interests and activities, which
ultimately rest upon and grow out of their material conditions.
Meantime wealth and consequently foreign travel everywhere
increase, fresh facilities of communication are constantly pro-
MODERNITY THE LEVELLER 59
vided, men from different countries are more and more thrown
together, and all this makes for the further strengthening of
mutual interests and the growth of fresh ones in common.
Now if (i) under the stress of "modernization" life is already
becoming so similar in the lands of the West, and if (2) the
Asiatic is not fundamentally inferior in mental and physical
endowments, then it follows as a certainty that the Asiatic world
will, under the same stress, enter the comity of nations, and
approximate to the world-type of interest and activity. It is only
a question of time. In economic history nothing is more certain
than that science, organization, cheapness, and efficiency must
ultimately prevail over sporadic, unorganized local effort based on
tradition and not on scientific exploitation of natural advantages.
Thus the East will adopt the material civilization of the West ;
and through the same organization of industrial and commercial
life and generally similar economic conditions, the same type of
moneyed class will grow up, with the same range of interests on
the intellectual and social side, diverse indeed, but in their very
diversity conforming more and more to the world-type.
Concurrently with this new tendency to uniformity proceeds the
weakening of the two most powerful disintegrating influences of
primitive humanity — religion and tradition. In the earlier stages
of society these are the two most powerful agents for binding
together into groups men already associated by the ties of locality
and common ancestry, and fettering them in the cast-iron bonds
of custom and ceremonial observance. While the members of
each group are thus held together by the ideas which appeal most
profoundly to unsophisticated mankind, the various groups are
automatically and by the same process held apart by the full force
of those ideas. Thus are produced castes, with their deadening
opposition to all progress; and thus arise crusades, wars of
religion and persecutions. Religion and tradition are then at
once the mightiest integrants within each single community, and
the mightiest disintegrants as between different communities.
But this narrow and dissevering spirit of caste dies back before
60 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
the spread of knowledge. The tendency to regard a man
unclean or a barbarian, simply because he does not believe or
behave as one's own people, is merely a product of isolation and
ignorance, and disappears with education and the general opening
up of a country. The inquisitor can no longer boast of " strained
relations " — strained physically on the rack, owing to differences of
religious opinion. The state of things which made it possible for
sepoys to revolt because rifle bullets were greased with the fat of
a sacred animal, or for yellow men to tear up railway tracks
because the magic desecrated the tombs of their ancestors, is
rapidly passing away, as Orientals realize the profits to be made
from scientific methods.
Thus the levelling influence is at work, and the checks upon
it are diminishing. The end can be but one. There will be a
greater and greater similarity of life and occupation the world
over, and more and more actual and potential international
intercourse.
Now, the further we move in this direction, the greater will be
the impatience of vexatious restraints upon the freedom of inter-
course ; and of these restraints the difference of language is one
of the most vexatious, because it is one of the easiest to remove.
If we devote millions of pounds to annihilating the barriers of
space, can we not devote a few months to the comparatively
modest effort necessary to annihilate the barriers of language ?
A real cosmopolitanism, in the etymological sense of the word,
world (and not merely European) citizenship, will shift the onus
probandi from the supporters of an international language to its
opponents. It will say to them, " It is admitted that you have
much intercourse with other peoples ; it is admitted that diversity
of language is an obstacle in this intercouse ; this obstacle is
increasing rather than diminishing as fresh subjects raise their
claims upon the few years of education, and the old leisurely type
of linguistic education fails more and more to train the bulk of
the people for life's business, and as the ranks of the civilized are
swelled by fresh peoples for whom it is harder and harder to learn
SECOND SIGHT FOR THE BLIND 61
even one Indo-Germanic tongue, let alone several ; it is proved
that this obstacle can be removed at the cost of a few months'
study : this study is not only the most directly remunerative study
in the world, comparing results with cost, but it is an admirable
mental discipline and a direct help towards further real linguistic
culture-giving studies for those who are fit to undertake them.
Show cause, then, why you prefer to suffer under an unnecessary
obstacle, rather than avail yourselves of this means of removing it."
It is easier for the Indo-Germanic peoples to learn each other's
languages — e.g. for an Englishman to learn Swedish or Russian —
than it is for a speaker of one of any of the other families of
languages to learn any Indo-Germanic tongue ; so that some idea
may be formed of the magnitude of the task imposed upon the
newer converts to Western civilization by the Indo-Germanic
world, in making them learn one or more of its national languages.
At the same time, it is but just that the peoples who have paid
the piper of progress should call the common lingual tune.
Therefore, what more fitting than that they should provide an
essence of their allied languages, reduced to its simplest and
clearest form ? This they would offer to the rest of the world to
be taken over as part of the general progress in civilization which
it has to adopt ; and this it is which is provided in the international
language, Esperanto.
XVII
IMPORTANCE OF AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE FOR THE BLIND
Now that higher education for the blind is being extended in
every country, owing to the more humanitarian feeling of the
present age that these afflicted members of the community ought
to be given a fair chance, the problem of supplying them with
books is beginning to be felt. The process of producing books
for the blind on the Braille system is, of course, far more costly
than ordinary printing, and at the same time the editions must
62 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
be necessarily more or less limited. Many an educated blind
person is therefore cruelly circumscribed in the range of literature
open to him by the mere physical obstacle of the lack of books.
This difficulty is accentuated by the fact that three kinds of
Braille type are in use — French, English, and American.
Now, suppose it is desired to make the works of some good
author accessible to the blind — we will say the works of Milton.
A separate edition has to be done into Braille for the English,
another separate translation for the French, and so on for the
blind of each country. In many cases where translations of a
work do not already exist, as in the case of a modern author, the
mere cost of translation into some one language may not pay,
much less then the preparation of a special Braille edition for the
limited blind public of that country. But if one Braille edition
is prepared for the blind of the world in the universal auxiliary
language, a far greater range of literature is at once brought
within their grasp.
Already there is abundant evidence of the keen appreciation of
Esperanto on the part of the blind, and one striking proof is the
fact that the distinguished French scientist and doctor, Dr. Javal,
who himself became blind during the latter part of his life, was,
until his death in March 1907, one of the foremost partisans and
benefactors of Esperanto. By his liberality much has been
rendered possible that could not otherwise have been accom-
plished. There are many other devoted workers in the same
field, among them Prof. Cart and Mme. Fauvart-Bastoul in
France, and Mr. Rhodes, of Keighley, and Mr. Adams, of
Hastings, in England. A special fund is being raised to enable
blind Esperantists from various countries to attend the Congress
at Cambridge in August 1907, and the cause is one well worthy
of assistance by all who are interested in the welfare of the blind.
The day when a universal language is practically recognised will
be one of the greatest in their annals.
A perfectly phonetic language, as is Esperanto, is peculiarly
suited to the needs of the blind. Its long, full vowels, slow,
PHILANTHROPY— BUT FIFTY PER CENT. 63
harmonious intonation, few and simple sounds, and regular con-
struction make it very easy to learn through the ear, and to
reproduce on any phonetic system of notation ; and as a matter
of fact, blind people are found to enjoy it much. For a blind
man to come to an international congress and be able to compare
notes with his fellow-blind from all over the world must be a
lifting of the veil between him and the outer world, coming next
to receiving his sight. To witness this spectacle alone might
almost convince a waverer as to the utility of the common
language.
XVIII
IDEAL V. PRACTICAL
FROM the early days of the Esperanto movement there has
flowed within it a sort of double current. There is the warm and
genial Gulf Stream of Idealism, that raises the temperature on
every shore to which it sets, and calls forth a luxuriant growth of
friendly sentiment. This tends to the enriching of life. There is
also the cooler current of practicality, with a steady drive towards
material profit. At present the tide is flowing free, and, taken at
the flood, may lead on to fortune ; the two currents pursue their
way harmoniously within it, without clashing, and sometimes
mingling their waters to their mutual benefit.
But as the movement is sometimes dismissed contemptuously
as a pacifist fad or an unattainable ideal of universal brotherhood,
it is as well to set the matter in its true light. It is true that the
inventor of Esperanto, Dr. Zamenhof, of Warsaw, is an idealist
in the best sense of the word, and that his language was directly
inspired by his ardent wish to remove one cause of misunder-
standing in his distracted country. He has persistently refused
to make any profit out of it, and declined to accept a sum which
some enthusiasts collected as a testimonial to his disinterested
work.
64 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
It is equally true that Esperanto seems to possess a rather
strange power of evoking enthusiasm. Meetings of Esperantists
are invariably characterized by great cordiality and good-fellowship,
and at the international congresses so far these feelings have at
times risen to fever heat. It is easy to make fun of this by saying
that the conjunction of Sirius, the fever-shedding constellation of
the ancients, with the green star * in the dog days of August, when
the congresses are held, induces hot fits. Those who have drunk
enthusiastic toasts in common, and have rubbed shoulders and
compared notes with various foreigners, and gone home having
made perhaps lifelong interesting friendships which bring them
in touch with other lands, will not undervalue the brotherhood
aspect of the common language.
On the other hand, the united Esperantists at their first inter-
national meeting expressly and formally dissociated their project
from any connection with political, sentimental, or peace-making
schemes. They did this by drawing up and promulgating a
" Deklaracio," adopted by the Esperantist world, wherein it is
declared that Esperanto is a language, and a language only.t It is
not a league or a society or agency for promoting any object
whatsoever other than its own dissemination as a means of com-
munication. Like other tongues, Esperanto may be used for any
purpose whatsoever, and it is declared that a man is equally an
Esperantist whether he uses the language to save life or to kill,
to further his own selfish ends or to labour in any altruistic
cause. J
* Badge of the Esperantists.
f For text of this Declaration, see Part II., chap, vii., p. 115.
J The non-sectarian nature of Esperanto is shown by the fact that the first
two services in the language were held on the same day in Geneva according
to the Roman Catholic and Protestant rites. The latter was conducted by an
English clergyman, whose striking sermon on unity, in spite of diversity,
evidently impressed his international congregation. The Vatican has officially
expressed its favour towards Esperanto, and the Archbishop of Canterbury
has sanctioned an Esperanto form of the Anglican service, which will be used
in London and Cambridge this summer. Cordial goodwill was expressed
BLOOD FOR WORDS 65
The practical nature of the scheme which Esperantists are
labouring to induce the world to adopt is thus sufficiently clearly
defined. Dr. Zamenhof himself, speaking at the Geneva Congress
with all the vivid poignancy attaching to the words of a man
fresh from the butcheries at that moment rife in the Russian
Empire,* declared that neither he nor other Esperantists were
naifs enough to believe that the adoption of their language would
put an end to such scenes. But he had seen men at each other's
throats, beating each other's brains out with bludgeons — men who
had no personal enmity and had never seen each other before,
but were let loose on each other by pure race prejudice. He did
claim that mutual incomprehensibility amongst men who thus
dwell side by side and should be taking part in a common civic life
was one powerful influence in keeping up cliques and divisions,
and artificially holding asunder those whom common interests
should be joining together. It is hard to refuse credence to this
power of language, thus moderately stated.
XIX
LITERARY V. COMMERCIAL
ANOTHER vexed question is whether it is advisable to run an
international language on a literary or a commercial ticket.
On this rock Volapiik split —
A brave vessel,
That had no doubt some noble creature in her,
Dashed all to pieces ; \
and there was no Prospero to conjure away the tempest and
towards the Vatican, on receipt of its message at Geneva, by speakers who
avowed themselves agnostics, but welcomed any advance towards abolition of
barriers.
* There were bad massacres about that time in Warsaw, where Dr.
Zamenhof lives. During the Congress news came of the assassination of one
of the chief civic officials of Warsaw.
t Shakespeare, The Tempest.
5
66 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
send everybody safe home to port to speak Volapiik happily
ever afterwards. The moral is, that it is no good to make
exaggerated claims for a universal language. To attempt to set
it on a fully equal footing with national languages as a literary
medium is to court disaster.
The truth seems to be about this. As a potential means of
international communication, Esperanto is unsurpassed, and a
long way ahead of any national language. As a literary language,
it is far better than Chinook or Pidgin, far worse than English
or Greek.
A language, no more than a man, can serve two masters. By
attempting to combine within itself this double function an
international language would cease to attain either object. The
reason is simple.
Its legitimate and proper sphere demands of it as the first
essential that it should be easy and universally accessible.
This means that the words are to be few, and must have but
one clearly marked sense each. There are to be no idioms or
set phrases, no words that depend upon their context or upon
allusion for their full sense.
On the other hand, among the essentials of a literary language
are the exact opposites of all these characteristics. The
vocabulary must be full and plenteous, and there should be
a rich variety of synonyms ; there should be delicate half-tones
and nuances ; the words should be not mere counters or symbols
of fixed value, determinable in each case by a rapid use of the
dictionary alone, but must have an atmosphere, a something de-
pendent upon history, usage, and allusion, by virtue of which
the whole phrase, in the finer styles of writing, amounts to
more than the sum of the individual meanings of the words
which it contains, becoming a separate entity with an individual
flavour of its own. To attempt to create this atmosphere in an
artificial language is not only futile, but would introduce just the
difficulties, redundancies, and complications which it is its
chief object to avoid. Take a single instance, Macbeth's —
LOGIC LIMITS ALLITERATION 67
Nay, this my hand would rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Here the effect is produced by the contrast between the stately
march of the long Latin words of thundrous sound, and the
short, sharp English. A labour-saving language has no business
with such words as " incarnadine " or " multitudinous." In
translating such a passage it will reproduce the sense faithfully
and clearly, if necessary by the combination of simple roots ;
but the bouquet of the original will vanish in the process. This
is inevitable, and it is even so far an advantage that it removes
all ground from the argument that a universal language will kill
scholarly language-learning. It will be just as necessary as ever
to read works of fine literature in the original, in order to enjoy
their full savour ; and the translation into the common tongue
will not prejudice such reading of originals more than, or indeed
so much as, translations into various mother-tongues.
Again, take the whole question of the imitative use of
language. In national literatures many a passage, poetry or
prose, is heightened in effect by assonance, alliteration, a certain
movement or rhythm of phrase. Subtle suggestion slides in
sound through the ear and falls with mellowing cadence into
the heart. Soothed senses murmur their own music to the
mind ; the lullaby lilt of the lay swells full the linked sweetness
of the song.
The How plays fostering round the What. Down the liquid
stream of lingual melody the dirge drifts dying — dying it echoes
back into a ghostly after-life, as the yet throbbing sense wakes the
drowsed mind once more. The Swan-song floats double — song
and shadow ; and in the blend — half sensuous, half of thought —
man's nature tastes fruition.
Now, this verbal artistry, whereby the words set themselves in
tune to the thoughts, postulates a varied vocabulary, a rich
storehouse wherein a man may linger and choose among the gems
68 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
of sound and sense till he find the fitting stone and fashion it to
one of those —
jewels five- words long,
That on the stretched forefinger of all Time
Sparkle for ever.
But the word-store of an international tongue must not be a
golden treasury of art, a repository of " bigotry and virtue." On
its orderly rows of shelves must be immediately accessible the
right word for the right place : no superfluity, no disorder, no
circumambient margin for effect. Homocea-like, it "touches the
spot," and having deadened the ache of incomprehensibility, has
done its task. " No flowers."
Naturally some peoples will feel themselves more cramped in a
new artificial language than others. French, incomparably neat
and clear within its limits, but possessing the narrowest " margin
for effect," is less alien in its genius from Esperanto than is
English, with its twofold harmony, its potentiality (too rarely ex-
ploited) of Romance clarity, and its double portion of Germanic
vigour and feeling. Yet all languages must probably witness the
obliteration of some finer native shades in the international
tongue.
But we must not go to the opposite extreme, and deny to
the universal language all power of rendering serious thought.
Just how far it can go, and where its inherent limitations begin,
is a matter of individual taste and judgment. There are Esperanto
translations — and good ones — of Hamlet^ The Tempest^ Julius
Caesar, the Aeneid of Virgil, parts of Moliere and Homer,
besides a goodly variety of other literature. These translations
do succeed in giving a very fair idea of the originals, as any
one can test for himself with a little trouble, but, as pointed
out, they must come something short in beauty and variety of
expression.
There is even a certain style in Esperanto itself in the hands
of a good writer, of which the dominant notes are simplicity
and directness — two qualities not at all to be despised. Further,
AN ESPERANTO BIBLE? 69
the unlimited power of word-building and of forming terse com-
pounds gives the language an individuality of its own. It contains
many expressive self-explanatory words whose meaning can only
be conveyed by a periphrasis in most languages,* and this causes
it to take on the manner and feel of a living tongue, and makes
it something far more than a mere copy or barren extract of
storied speech.
Technically, the fulness of its participial system, rivalled by
Greek alone, and the absence of all defective verbs, lend to it
a very great flexibility ; and containing, as it does, a variety of
specially neat devices borrowed from various tongues, it is in
a sense neater than any of them.
One great test of its capacity for literary expression remains
to be made. This is an adequate translation of the Bible. A
religious society, famed for the variety of its translations of the
Scriptures into every conceivable language, when approached
on the subject, replied that Esperanto was not a language.
But Esperantists will not "let it go at that." Besides Dr.
Zamenhofs own Predikanto (Ecclesiastes), an experiment has
been made by two Germans, who published a translation of
St. Matthew's Gospel. It is not a success, and further experiments
have just been made by Prof. Macloskie, of Princeton, U.S.A.,
and by E. Metcalfe, M.A. (Oxon), I cannot say with what result,
not having seen copies.t
From one point of view, the directness and simplicity of the
Bible would seem to lend themselves to an Esperanto dress ;
but there are certain great difficulties, such as technical ex-
pressions, archaic diction, and phrases hallowed by association.
A meeting of those interested in this great work will take place
* e.g. samideano = partisan of the same cause or idea.
vivipova lingvo = language capable of independent vigorous existence.
f Cf. also now the " Ordo de Diservo " (special Anglican Church service),
selected and translated from Prayer Book and Bible for use in England by the
Rev. J. C. Rust (obtainable from the British Esperanto Association, 13,
Arundel Street, Strand, price 7</.).
70 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE ,
at Cambridge during the Congress (August 1907). Experimenters
in this field will there be brought together from all countries,
the subject will be thoroughly discussed, and substantial progress
may be hoped for.
In the field of rendering scientific literature and current
workaday prose, whose matter is of more moment than its form,
Esperanto has already won its spurs. Its perfect lucidity makes
it particularly suitable for this form of writing.
The conclusion then is, that Esperanto is neither wholly
commercial nor yet literary in the full sense 'in which a grown
language is literary ; but it does do what it professes to do, and it
is all the better for not professing the impossible.
XX
IS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE A CRANK'S HOBBY ?
THE apostle of a universal language is made to feel pretty plainly
that he is regarded as a crank. He may console himself with the
usual defence that a crank is that which makes revolutions ; but
for all that, it is chilling to be met with a certain smile.
Let us analyse that smile. It varies in intensity, ranging from
the scathing sneer damnatory to the gentle dimple deprecatory.
But in any case it belongs to the category of the smile that won't
come off. I know that grin — it comes from Cheshire.
What, then, do we mean when we smile at a crank? Firstly
and generally that we think his ideal impracticable. But it has
been shown that an international language is not impracticable.
This alone ought to go far towards removing it from the list of
cranks' hobbies.
Secondly, we often mean that the ideal in question is opposed
to common sense — e.g. when we smile at a man who lives on
protein biscuits or walks about without a hat. We do not
impugn the feasibility of his diet or apparel, but we think he
TOO MANY TONGUES SPOIL THE SPORT 71
is going out of his way to be peculiar without reaping adequate
advantage by his departure from customary usage.
The test of " crankiness," then, lies in the adequacy of the advan-
tage reaped. A man who learns and uses Esperanto may at present
depart as widely from ordinary usage as a patron of Eustace
Miles's restaurant or a member of the hatless brigade ; but is
it true that the advantage thereby accruing is equally disputable
or matter of opinion ? Is it not, on the contrary, fairly certain
that the use of an auxiliary language, if universal, would open up
for many regions from which exclusion is now felt as a hindrance ?
Take the case of a doctor, scientist, scholar, researcher in any
branch of knowledge, who desires to keep abreast of the advance
of knowledge in his particular line. He may have to wait for
years before a translation of some work he wishes to read is
published in a tongue he knows, and in any case all the periodical
literature of every nation, except the one or two whose languages
he may learn, will be closed to him. The output of learned work
is increasing very fast in all civilized countries, and therefore
results are recorded in an increasing number of languages in
monographs, reports, transactions, and the specialist press, A
move is being made in the right direction by the proposal to
print the publications of the Brussels International Bibliographical
Institute in Esperanto.
Take a few examples of the hampering effect upon scholarly
work of the language difficulty as it already exists. The diffusion
of learning will, ironically enough, increase the difficulty.* The
late Prof. Todhunter, of Cambridge, was driven to learning Russian
for mathematical purposes. He managed to learn enough to
enable him to read mathematical treatises ; but how many mathe-
maticians or scientists (or classical scholars, for that matter) could
do as much ? And of how much profit was the learning of Russian,
quA Russian, to Prof. Todhunter ? It only took up time which
could have been better spent, as there cannot be anything very
uplifting or cultivating in the language of mathematical Russian.
* By multiplying the languages used.
72 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Prof. Max Miiller proposed that all serious scientific work
should be published in one of the six languages following —
English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. But
why should other nations have to produce in these languages ?
and why should serious students have to be prepared to read
six languages ?
All this was many years ago. The balance of culture has
since then been gradually b*t steadily shifting in favour of
other peoples. The present writer had occasion to make a
special study of Byron's influence on the Continent. It turned
out that one of the biggest and most important works upon
the subject was written in Polish. It has therefore remained
inaccessible. This is only an illustration of a difficulty that
faces many workers.
Thirdly, there is a good large portion of the British public that
regards as a crank anything not British or that does not benefit
themselves personally. It really is hard for an Englishman,
Frenchman, or German, brought up among a homogeneous
people of old civilization, to realize the extent of the incubus
under which the smaller nations of Europe and the polyglot
empires further east are groaning. Imagine yourself an educated
Swiss, Dutchman, or a member of any of the thirty or forty
nationalities that make up the Austrian or Russian Empires.
How would you like to have to learn three or four foreign
languages for practical purposes before you could hope to take
much of a position in life ? Can any one assert that the kind of
grind required, with its heavy taxation of the memory, is in most
cases really educative or confers culture ?
Think it out. What do you really mean when you jeer at an
Esperantist ?
TO BE OR NOT TO BE? 73
XXI
WHAT AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE IS NOT
An international language is not an attempt to replace or
damage in any way any existing language or literature^
XXII
WHAT AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE IS
An international language is an attempt to save the greatest
amount of labour and open the widest fields of thought and
action to the greatest number.^
PART II
HISTORICAL
SOME EXISTING INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES ALREADY IN
PARTIAL USE
THOUGH the idea of an artificially constructed language to meet
the needs of speakers of various tongues seems for some reason
to contain something absurd or repellent to the mind of Western
Europeans, there have, as a matter of fact, been various attempts
made at different times and places to overcome the obvious
difficulty in the obvious way; and all have met with a large
measure of success.
The usual method of procedure has been quite rough and
ready. Words or forms have been taken from a variety of
languages, and simply mixed up together, without any scientific
attempt at co-ordination or simplification. The resulting inter-
national languages have varied in their degree of artificiality,
and in the proportions in which they were consciously or semi-
consciously compiled, or else adopted their elements ready-made,
without conscious adaptation, from existing tongues. But their
production, widespread and continuous use, and great practical
utility, showed that they arose in response to a felt want. The
wonder is that the world should have grown so old without
supplying this want in a more systematic way.
Every one has heard of the lingua franca of the Levant. In
74
KEY LANGUAGES NECESSARY 75
India the master-language that carries a man through among a
hundred different tribes is Hindustanee, or Urdu. At the outset
it represented a new need of an imperial race. It had its origin
during the latter half of the sixteenth century under Akbar,
and was born of the sudden extension of conquest and affairs
brought about by the great .ruler. Round him gathered a
cosmopolitan crowd of courtiers, soldiers, vassal princes, and
followers of all kinds, and wider dealings than the ordinary
local petty affairs received a great stimulus. Urdu is a good
example of a mix-up language, with a pure Aryan framework
developed out of a dialect of the old Hindi. In fact, it is to
India very much what Esperanto might be to Europe, only it
is more empirical, and not so consciously and scientifically
worked out.
Somewhat analogous to Urdu, in that it is a literary language
used by the educated classes for intercommunication throughout
a polygot empire, is the Mandarin Chinese. If China is not
"polygot" in the strict technical sense of the term, she is so
in fact, since the dialects used in different provinces are mutually
incomprehensible for the speakers of them. Mandarin is the
official master-language.
Rather of the nature si patois are Pidgin-English, Chinook, and
Benguela, the language used throughout the tribes of the Congo.
Yet business of great importance and involving large sums of
money is, or has been, transacted in them, and they are used over
a wide area.
Pidgin consists of a medley of words, largely English, but with
a considerable admixture from other tongues, combined in the
framework of Chinese construction. It is current in ports all over
the East, and is by no means confined to China. The principle
is that roots, chiefly monosyllabic, are used in their crude form
without inflection or agglutination, the mere juxtaposition (without
any change of form) showing whether they are verbs, adjectives,
etc. This is the Chinese contribution to the language.
Chinook is the key-language to dealings with the huge number
76 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
of different tribes of American Indians. It contains a large
admixture of French words, and was to a great extent artificial!)
put together by the Hudson Bay Company's officials, for the
purposes of their business.
Quite apart from these various more or less consciously con-
structed mixed languages, there is a much larger artificial element
in many national languages than is commonly realized. Take
modern Hungarian, Greek, or even Italian. Literary Italian,
we know it, is largely an artificial construction for literary pur-
poses, made by Dante and others, on the basis of a vigorous and
naturally supple dialect. With modern Greek this is even more
strikingly the case. As a national language it is almost purely
the work of a few scholars, who in modern times arbitrarily and
artificially revived and modified the ancient Greek.
There seems, then, to be absolutely no foundation in experience
for opposing a universal language on the score of artificiality.
II
OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE IDEA OF A UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE
List of Schemes proposed
THE story of Babel in the Old Testament reflects the popular
feeling that confusion of tongues is a hindrance and a curse.
Similarly in the New Testament the Pentecostal gift of tongues
is a direct gift of God. But apparently it was not till about
300 years ago that philosophers began to think seriously about
a world-language.
The earliest attempts were based upon the mediaeval idea that
man might attain to a perfect knowledge of the universe. The
whole sum of things might, it was thought, be brought by division
and subdivision within an orderly scheme of classification. To
MEMORY FORBIDS 77
any conceivable idea or thing capable of being represented by
human speech might therefore be attached a corresponding
word, like a label, on a perfectly regular and logical system.
Words would thus be self-explanatory to any person who had
grasped the system, and would serve as an index or key to the
things they represented. Language thus became a branch of
philosophy as the men of the time conceived it, or at all
events a useful handmaid. Thus arose the idea of a
"philosophical language."
A very simple illustration will serve to show what is meant. Go
into a big library and look up any work in the catalogue. You
will find a reference number — say. 04582, g. 35, c. If you learnt
the system of classification of that library, the reference number
would explain to you where to find that particular book out of
any number of millions. The fact of the number beginning with
a " o " would at once place the book in a certain main division,
and so on with the other numbers, till " g " in that series gave
you a fairly small subdivision. Within that, " 35 " gives you the
number of the case, and " c " the shelf within the case. The
book is soon run to earth.
Just so a word in a philosophical language. Suppose the word
is brabo. The final o shows it to be a noun. The monosyllabic
root shows it to be concrete. The initial b shows it to be in the
animal category. The subsequent letters give subdivisions of the
animal kingdom, till the word is narrowed down by its form to
membership of one small class of animals. The other members
of the class will be denoted by an ordered sequence of words in
which only the letter denoting the individual is changed. Thus,
if brabo means " dog," braco may be " cat," and so on : brado,
brafo, brago . . . etc., according to the classification set up.
Words, then, are reduced to mere formulae; and grammar,
inflections, etc., are similarly laid out on purely logical, systematic
lines, without taking any account of existing languages and their
structure. To languages of this type the historians of the
universal language have given the name of a priori languages.
78 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Directly opposed to these is the other group of artificial lan-
guages, called a posteriori. These are wholly based on the
principle of borrowing from existing language : their artificiality
consists in choice of words and in regularization and simplification
of vocabulary and grammar. They avoid, as far as possible, any
elements of arbitrary invention, and confine themselves to adapting
and making easier what usage has already sanctioned.
Between the two main types come the mixed languages, partaking
of the nature of each.
The following list is taken from the Histoire de la langue
universelle, by MM. Couturat and Leau :
I. A PRIORI LANGUAGES
1. The philosopher Descartes, in a letter of 1629, forecasts a
system (realized in our days by Zamenhof) of a regular universal
grammar : words to be formed with fixed roots and affixes, and
to be in every case immediately decipherable from the dictionary
alone. He rejects this scheme as fit "for vulgar minds," and
proceeds to sketch the outline of all subsequent "philosophic"
languages. Thus the great thinker anticipates both types of
universal language.
2. Sir Thomas Urquhart, 1653 — Logopandekteision (see next
chapter).
3. Dalgarno, 1661 — Ars Signorum.
Dalgarno was a Scotchman born at Aberdeen in 1626. His
language is founded on the classification of ideas. Of these there
are seventeen main classes, represented by seventeen letters.
Each letter is the initial of all the words in its class.
4. Wilkins, 1668 — An Essay towards a Real Character and a
Philosophical Language.
Wilkins was Bishop of Chester, and first secretary and one of
the founders of the Royal Society. Present members please note.
His system is a development of Dalgarno's.
LIST OF SCHEMES— A PRIORI 79
5. Leibnitz, 1646-1716.
Leibnitz thought over this matter all his life, and there are
various passages on it scattered through his works, though no
one treatise is devoted to it. He held that the systems of his
predecessors were not philosophical enough. He dreamed of a
logic of thought applicable to all ideas. All complex ideas are
compounds of simple ideas, as non-primary numbers are of
primary numbers. Numbers can be compounded ad infinitum.
So if numbers are translated into pronouncible words, these words
can be combined so as to represent every possible idea.
6. Delormel, 1795 (An III) — Projet d'une langue universelle.
Delormel was inspired by the humanitarian ideas of the French
Revolution. He wished to bring mankind together in fraternity.
His system rests on a logical classification of ideas on a decimal
basis.
7. Jean Francois Sudre, 1817 — Langue musicale universelle.
Sudre was a schoolmaster, born in 1787. His language is
founded on the seven notes of the scale, and he calls it Solr£sol.
8. Grosselin, 1836 — Systcme de langue universelle.
A language composed of 1500 words, called "roots," with 100
suffixes, or modifying terminations.
9. Vidal, 1844 — Langue universelle et analytique.
A curious combination of letters and numbers.
TO. Letellier, 1852-1855 — Cours complet de langue universelle,
and many subsequent publications.
Letellier was a former schoolmaster and school inspector.
His system is founded on the "theory of language," which is that
the word ought to represent by its component letters an analysis
of the idea it conveys.
ii. Abbe" Bonifacio Sotos Ochando, 1852, Madrid.
The abbe had been a deputy to the Spanish Cortes, Spanish
8o INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
master to Louis Philippe's children, a university professor, and
director of a polytechnic college in Madrid, etc. His language is
a logical one, intended for international scientific use, and chiefly
for writing. He does not think a spoken language for all
purposes possible.
12. Societe" Internationale de linguistique. First report dated
1856. f
The object of the society was to carry out a radical reform of
French orthography, and to prepare the way for a universal
language — " the need of which is beginning to be generally felt."
In the report the idea of adopting one of the most widely spoken
national languages is considered and rejected. The previous
projects are reviewed, and that of Sotos Ochando is recommended
as the best. The a posteriori principle is rejected and the a priori
deliberately adopted. This is excusable, owing to the fact that
most projects hitherto had been a priori. The philosopher Charles
Renouvier gave proof of remarkable prescience by condemning
the a priori theory in an article in La Itevue, 1855, in which he
forecasts the a posteriori plan.
13. Dyer, 1875 — Lingitalumina ; or, the Language of Light.
14. Reinaux, 1877.
15. Maldent, 1877 — La langue naturelle.
The author was a civil engineer.
1 6. Nicolas, 1900 — Spokil.
The author is a ship's doctor and former partisan of Volapiik.
17. Hilbe, 1901 — Die Zahlensprache.
Based on numbers which are translated by vowels.
1 8. Dietrich, 1902 — Volkerverkehrssprache.
19. Mannus Talundberg, 1904 — Perio, eine auf Logik und
Gedachtnisskunst aufgebaute Weltsprache.
LIST OF SCHEMES— MIXED 81
II. MIXED LANGUAGES
These are chiefly Volapiik and its derivates.
1. August Theodor von Grimm, state councillor of the Russian
Empire, worked out a " programme for the formation of a
universal language," which contains some a priori elements, as
well as nearly all the principles which subsequent authors of
a posteriori languages have realized.
This Grimm is not to be confused with the famous philologist
Jacob von Grimm, though he wrote about the same time.
2. Schleyer, 1879 — Volapiik. (See below, p. 92.)
3. Verheggen, 1886 — Nal Bino.
4. Menet, 1886 — Langue universelle.
An imitation of Volapiik.
5. Bauer, 1886 — Spelin.
A development of Volapiik with more words taken from neutral
languages.
6. St. de Max, iB^—Bopal.
An imitation of Volapiik.
7. Dormoy, 1887 — Balta.
A simplification of Volapiik.
8. Fieweger, 1893 — Dil.
An exaggeration of Volapiik for good and ill.
9. Guardiola, 1893 — Orba.
A fantastic language.
10. W. von Arnim, 1896 — Veltparl.
A derivative of Volapiik.
11. Marchand, 1898 — Dilpok.
Simplified Volapiik.
6
82 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
12. Bollack, 1899 — La langue bltue.
Aims merely at commercial and common use. Ingenious, but
too difficult for the memory.
III. A POSTERIORI LANGUAGES.
1. Faiguet, 1765 — Langue nouvelle.
Faiguet was treasurer of France. He published his project,
which is a scheme for simplifying grammar, in the famous
eighteenth-century encyclopaedia of Diderot and d'Alembert.
2. Schipfer, 1839 — Communicationssprache.
This scheme has an historical interest for two reasons. First,
the fact that it is founded on French reflects the feeling of the
time that French was, as he says, "already to a certain extent
a universal language." The point of interest is to compare the
date when the projects began to be founded on English. In
1879 Volapiik took English for the base. Secondly, Schipfer's
scheme reflects the new consciousness of wider possibilities that
were coming into the world with the development of means of
communication by rail and steamboat. The author recommends
the utility of his project by referring to " the new way of
travelling."
3. De Rudelle, 1858 — Pantos-Dimon-Glossa.
De Rudelle was a modern-language master in France and
afterwards at the London Polytechnic. His language is based
on ten natural languages, especially Greek, Latin, and the
modern derivatives of Latin, with grammatical hints from English,
German, and Russian. It is remarkable for having been the
first to embody several principles of the first importance, which
have since been more fully carried out in other schemes, and
are now seen to be indispensable. Among these are : (i)
distinction of the parts of speech by a fixed form for each ;
(2) suppression of separate verbal forms for each person ; (3)
formation of derivatives by means of suffixes with fixed meanings.
LIST OF SCHEMES— A POSTERIORI 83
4. Pirro, 1868 — Universalsprache.
Based upon five languages — French, German, English, Italian,
and Spanish — and containing a large proportion of words from
the Latin.
5. Ferrari, 1877 — Monoglottica (?).
6. Volk and Fuchs, \^^—Weltsprache.
Founded on Latin.
7. Cesare Meriggi, 1884 — Blaia Zimondal,
8. Courtonne, 1885 — Langue Internationale nlo-Latine.
Based on the modern Romance languages, and therefore not
sufficiently international. A peculiarity is that all roots are
monosyllabic. The history of this attempt illustrates the weight
of inertia against which any such project has to struggle. It
was presented to the Scientific Society of Nice, which drew up
a report and sent it to all the learned societies of Romance-
speaking countries. Answers were received from three towns —
Pau, Sens, and Nimes. It was then proposed to convene
an international neo-Latin congress; but it is not surprising to
hear that nothing came of it.
9. Steiner, 1885 — Pasilingua.
A counterblast to Volapiik. The author aims at copying the
methods of naturally formed international languages like the
lingua franca or Pidgin-English. Based on English, French, and
German ; but the English vocabulary forms the groundwork.
10. Eichhorn, 1887 — Weltsprache.
Based on Latin. A leading principle is that each part of
speech ought to be recognizable by its form. Thus nouns have
two syllables ; adjectives, three ; pronouns, one ; verbal roots,
one syllable beginning and ending with a consonant ; and so on.
n. Zamenhof, 1887 — Esperanto. (See below, p. 105.)
84 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
12. Bernhard, 1888 — Lingua franca nuova.
A kind of bastard Italian.
13. Lauda, 1888 — Kosmos.
Draws all its vocabulary from Latin.
14. Henderson, 1888 — Lingua.
Latin vocabulary with modern grammar.
15. Henderson, 1902 — Latinesce.
A simpler and more practical adaptation of Latin by the same
author — e.g. the present infinitive form does duty for several
finite tenses, and words are used in their modern senses.
1 6. Hoinix (pseudonym for the same indefatigable Mr.
Henderson), 1889 — Anglo-franca.
A mixture of French and English. Both this and the barbarized
Latin schemes are fairly easy and certainly simpler than the real
languages, but they are shocking to the ear, and produce the
effect of mutilation of language.
17. Stempel, 1889 — Myrana.
Based on Latin with admixture of other languages.
1 8. Stempel, 1894 — Communia.
A simplification of No. 17, with a new name.
19. Rosa, 1890 — Nov Latin.
A set of rules for using the Latin dictionary in a certain way
as a key to produce something that can be similarly deciphered.
20. Julius Lott, 1890 — Mundolingue.
Founded on Latin. Lott started an international society for
a universal language, proposing to build up his language by
collaboration of savants thus brought together.
21. Marini, 1891 — Mtthode rapide, facile et certaine pour
construire un idiome universe?.
LIST OF SCHEMES— A POSTERIORI 85
22. Liptay, 1892 — Langue catholique.
Based on the theory than an international language already
exists (in the words common to many languages), and has only
to be discovered.
23. Mill, 1893 — Anti-Volapiik.
A simple universal grammar to be applied to the vocabulary of
each national language.
24. Braakman, 1894 — Der Wereldtaal "El Mundolinco?
Gramatico del Mundolinco pro li de Hollando Factore (Noordwijk).
25. Albert Hoessrich (date ?) — Talnovos, Monatsschrift fur
die Einfuhrung und Verbreitung der allgemeinen Verkehrssprache
" Tal" (Sonneberg, Thuringen).
26. Heintzeler, 1895 — Universala.
Heintzeler compares the twelve chief artificial languages already
proposed, and shows that they have much in common. He
suggests a commission to work out a system on an eclectic basis.
27. Beermann, 1895 — Novilatin.
Latin brought up to date by comparison with six chief modern
languages.
28. Le Linguist, 1896-7.
A monthly review conducted by a band of philologists. It
contains many discussions of the principles which should underly
an international language, and suggestions, but no complete
scheme.
29. Puchner, 1897 — Nuove Roman.
Based largely on Spanish, which the author considers the best
of the Romance tongues.
30. Nilson — La vest-europish central-dialekt (1890); Lasonebr,
un transitional lingvo (1897); II dialekt Centralia, un compromiss
86 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
entr il lingu universal de Akademi international e la vest-europish
central-dialekt (1899).
31. Kiirschner, 1900 — Lingua Komun.
The author was an Esperantist, but found Esperanto not
scientific enough. It is almost incredible that a man who knew
Esperanto should invent a language with several conjugations of
the verb, but this is what Kiirschner has done.
32. International Academy of Universal Language, 1902 —
Idiom Neutral. (See below, p. 98.)
33. Elias Molee, 1902 — Tutonish ; or, Anglo-German Union
Tongue. Tutonish; a Teutonic International Language (1904).
34. Molenaar — Panroman, skiz de un ling internazional (in
Die Religion der Menschheit, March 1903) ; Esperanto oder
Panroman ? Das Weltsprache-problem und seine einfachste Ldsung
(1906); Universal Ling-Panroman (in Menschheitsziele, 1906);
Gramatik de Universal (Leipzig, Puttmann, 1906).
35. Peano — De Latino sineflexione (in Revue de Math'ematique,
vol. viii., Turin, 1903) ; // Latino quale lingua ausiliare inter-
nazionale (in Atti della R> Accademia delle Scienze di Torino^
1904) ; Vocabulario de Latino Internationale comparato cum Anglo,
franco, Germano, Hispano, Italo, Russo, Graeco, et Sanscrito
(Turin> 1904). See also the Formulario mathematico, vol. v.
(Turin, 1906).
36. Hummler, 1904 — Mundelingua (Saulgau).
37. Victor Hely, 1905 — Esquisse d'une grammaire de la langue
Internationale, \st part : Les mots et la syntaxe (Langres).
38. Max Wald, 1906 — Pankel ( Weltsprache), die leichteste und
kiirzeste Sprache fur den internationalen Verkehr. Grammatik
und Worterbuch mit Aufgabe der Wortquelle (Gross-Beeren).
SCOTS TO THE FORE 87
39. Greenwood, 1906 — Ekselsiore^ the New Universal Language
for All Nations : a Simplified, Improved Esperanto (London,
Miller & Gill); Vila, t ulo lingua a otrs (The Ulla Society,
Bridlington, 1906).
40. Trischen, 1907 — Mondlingvo, provisorische Aufstellung eine r
internationalen Verkehrssprache (Pierson, Dresden).
Ill
THE EARLIEST BRITISH ATTEMPT
A PERUSAL of the foregoing list shows that in the early days of
the search for an international language the British were well to
the fore. Of the British pioneers in this field the first two were
Scots — a fact which accords well with the traditional enterprise
north of the Tweed, and readiness to look abroad, beyond their
own noses, or, in this case, beyond their own tongues. It is like-
wise remarkable that the British have almost dropped out of the
running in recent times, as far as origination is concerned. Is
this fact also typical, a small symptom of Jeshurun's general
fatness ? Does it reflect a lesser degree of nimbleness in moving
with the spirit of the times ?
Anyhow, in this case the Briton's content with what he has got
at home is well grounded. He certainly possesses a first-class
language. As a curious example of the quaint use of it by a
scholar and clever man in the middle of the seventeenth century,
the following account of Sir Thomas Urquhart's book may be of
some interest.
Sir Thomas is well known as the translator of Rabelais ; and
evidently something of the curious erudition, polyglotism, and
quaintness of conceit of his author stuck to the translator. This
book is the rarest of his tracts, all of which are uncommon, and
has been hardly more than mentioned by name by the previous
writers on the subject.
The title-page runs :
88 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
LOGOPANDEKTEISION
OR, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE,
DIGESTED INTO THESE SlX SEVERAL BOOKS
Neaudethaumata Chryseomystes
Chrestasebeia Neleodicastes
Cleronomaporia Philoponauxesis
By SIR THOMAS URQUHART, of Cromartie, Knight,
Now lately contrived and published both for his own Utilitie,
and that of all Pregnant and Ingenious Spirits.
LONDON
Printed and are to be sold by GILES CALVERT
at the Black Spread-Eagle at the West-end
of Paul's, and by RICHARD TOMLINS at
the Sun and Bible near Pye Corner. 1653.
In a note at the end of the book he apologizes for haste, saying
that the copy was " given out to two several printers, one alone
not being fully able to hold his quill a-going."
The book opens with :
" The Epistle Dedicatory to Nobody."
The first paragraph runs :
"MOST HONOURABLE,
"My non-supponent Lord, and Soveraign Master of
contradictions in adjected terms, that unto you I have presumed
to tender the dedicacie of this introduction, will not seem strange
to those, that know how your concurrence did further me to
the accomplishment of that new Language, into the frontispiece
whereof it is permitted."
After some preliminary remarks, he says :
"Now to the end the Reader may be more enamoured of
the Language, wherein I am to publish a grammar and lexicon,
MONGRELS AND HYBRIDS 89
I will here set down some few qualities and advantages peculiar
to itself, and which no Language else (although all other concurred
with it) is able to reach unto."
There follow sixty-six "qualities and advantages," which
contain the only definite information about the language, for the
promised grammar and lexicon never appeared. A few may be
quoted as typical of the inducements held out to " pregnant and
ingenious spirits," to the end they " may be more enamoured of
the Language." The good Sir Thomas was plainly an optimist.
"... Sixthly, in the cases of all the declinable parts of
speech, it surpasseth all other languages whatsoever : for whilst
others have but five or six at most, it hath ten, besides the
nominative.
"... Eighthly, every word capable of number is better pro-
vided therewith in this language, then [sic] by any other : for
instead of two or three numbers which others have, this affordeth
you four ; to wit, the singular, dual, plural, and redual.
"... Tenthly, in this tongue there are eleven genders ; wherein
likewise it exceedeth all other languages.
"... Eleventhly, Verbs, Mongrels, Participles, and Hybrids
have all of them ten tenses, besides the present : which number
no language else is able to attain to.
"... Thirteenthly, in lieu of six moods, which other languages
have at most, this one enjoyeth seven in its conjugable words."
Sir Thomas evidently believed in giving his clients plenty for
their money. He is lavish of " Verbs, Mongrels, Participles, and
Hybrids," truly a tempting menagerie. He promises, however,
a time-reduction on learning a quantity :
"... Seven and fiftiethly, the greatest wonder of all is that
of all the languages in the world it is easiest to learn; a boy of
ten years old being able to attain to the knowledge thereof in
three months' space; because there are in it many facilitations
for the memory, which no other language hath but itself."
90 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Seventeenth-century boys of tender years must have had a
good stomach for " Mongrels and Hybrids," and such-like dainties
of the grammatical menu; but even if they could swallow a
mongrel, it is hard to believe that they would not have strained
at ten cases in three months. It might be called " casual labour,"
but it would certainly have been "three months' hard."
After these examples of grammatical generosity, it is not sur-
prising to read :
"... Fifteenthly, in this language the Verbs and Participles
have four voices, although it was never heard that ever any other
language had above three."
Note that the former colleagues of the " Verbs and Participles,"
the " Mongrels and Hybrids," are here dropped out of the
category. Perhaps it is as well, seeing the number of voices
attributed to each. A four-voiced mongrel would have gone one
better than the triple-headed hell-hound Cerberus, and created
quite a special Hades of its own for schoolboys, to say nothing
of light sleepers.
Under "five and twentiethly" we learn that "there is no
Hexameter, Elegiack, Saphick, Asclepiad, lambick, or any other
kind of Latin or Greek verse, but I will afford you another in
this language of the same sort " ; which leads up to :
"... Six and twentiethly, as it trotteth easily with metrical
feet, so at the end of the career of each line, hath it dexterity,
after the manner of our English and other vernaculary tongues,
to stop with the closure of a rhyme ; in the framing whereof, the
well-versed in that language shall have so little labour, that for
every word therein he shall be able to furnish at least five
hundred several monosyllables of the same termination with it."
A remarkable opportunity for every man to become his own
poet !
A REALISTIC LANGUAGE 91
"... Four and thirtiethly, in this language also words ex-
pressive of herbs represent unto us with what degree of cold,
moisture, heat, or dryness they are qualified, together with some
other property distinguishing them from other herbs."
In this crops out the idea that haunted the minds of mediaeval
speculators on the subject: that language could play a more
important part than it had hitherto done; that a word, while
conveying an idea, could at the same time in some way describe
or symbolize the attributes of the thing named. Imagine the
charge of thought that could be rammed into a phrase in such a
language. Imagine too, you who remember the cold shudder of
your childhood, when you heard the elders discussing a prospective
dose — intensified by all the horrors of imagination when the
discussion was veiled in the "decent obscurity" of French —
imagine the grim realism of a language containing "words
expressive of herbs" — and expressive to that extent !
There seems, indeed, to have been something rather cold-
blooded about this language :
"... Eight and thirtiethly, in the contexture of nouns, pro-
nouns, and preposital articles united together, it administreth
many wonderful varieties of Laconick expressions, as in the
Grammar thereof shall more at large be made known unto you."
But, after all, it had a human side :
"... Three and fourtiethly, as its interjections are more
numerous, so are they more emphatical in their respective ex-
pression of passions, than that part of speech is in any other
language whatsoever.
"... Eight and fourtiethly, of all languages this is the most
compendious in complement, and consequently fittest for Courtiers
and Ladies."
*
Sir Thomas seems to have been a bit of a man of the world
too.
92 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
"... Fiftiethly, no language in matter of Prayer and Ejacu-
lations to Almighty God is able, for conciseness of expression to
compare with it ; and therefore, of all other, the most fit for the
use of Churchmen and spirits inclined to devotion."
This " therefore," with its direct deduction from " conciseness
of expression," recalls the lady patroness who chose her in-
cumbents for being fast over prayers. She said she could always
pick out a parson who read service daily by his time for the
Sunday service.
Sir Thomas is perhaps over-sanguine to a modern taste when
he concludes :
" Besides the sixty and six advantages above all other languages,
I might have couched thrice as many more of no less consideration
than the aforesaid, but that these same will suffice to sharpen the
longing of the generous Reader after the intrinsecal and most
researched secrets of the new Grammar and Lexicon which I am
to evulge."
HISTORY OF VOLAPUK — A WARNING
VOLAPUK is the invention of a " white night." Those who know
their Alice in Wonderland will perhaps involuntarily conjure up
the picture of the kindly and fantastic White Knight, riding
about on a horse covered with mousetraps and other strange
caparisons, which he introduced to all and sundry with the
unfailing remark, " It's my own invention." Scoffers will not
be slow to find in Volapiik and the White Knight's inventions
a common characteristic — their , fantasticness. Perhaps there
really is some analogy in the fact that both inventors had to
mount their hobby-horses and ride errant through sundry lands,
thrusting their creations on an unwilling world. But the par-
ticular kind of white night of which Volapiik was born is the
THE BOOM IN VOLAPUK 93
nuit blanche, literally = " white night," but idiomatically = " night
of insomnia."
On the night of March 31, 1879, the good Roman Catholic
Bishop Schleyer, cur6 of Litzelstetten, near Constance, could not
get to sleep. From his over-active brain, charged with a know-
ledge of more than fifty languages, sprang the world-speech,
as Athene sprang fully armed from the brain of Zeus. At any
rate, this is the legend of the origin of Volapiik.
As for the name, an Englishman will hardly appreciate the
fact that the word " Volapiik " is derived from the two English
words " world " and " speech." This transformation of " world "
into vol and " speech " into puk is a good illustration of the
manner in which Volapiik is based on English, and suggests
at once a criticism of that all-important point in an artificial
language, the vocabulary. It is too arbitrary.
Published in 1880, Volapiik spread first in South Germany,
and then in France, where its chief apostle was M. Kerckhoffs,
modern-language master in the principal school of commerce in
Paris. He founded a society for its propagation, which soon
numbered among its members several well-known men of science
and letters. The great Magasins du Printemps — a sort of French
Whiteley's, and familiar to all who have shopped in Paris —
started a class, attended by over a hundred of its employees ;
and altogether fourteen different classes were opened in Paris,
and the pupils were of a good stamp.
Progress was extraordinarily rapid in other European countries,
and by 1889, only nine years after the publication of Volapiik,
there were 283 Volapiik societies, distributed throughout Europe,
America, and the British Colonies. Instruction books were
published in twenty-five languages, including Volapiik itself ;
numerous newspapers, in and about Volapiik, sprang up all over
the world ; the number of Volapukists was estimated at a
million. This extraordinarily rapid success is very striking, and
seems to afford proof that there is a widely felt want for an
international language. Three Volapiik congresses were held,
94 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
of which the third, held in Paris in 1889, with proceedings
entirely in Volapiik, was the most important.
The rapid decline of Volapiik is even more instructive than its
sensational rise. The congress of Paris marked its zenith : hopes
ran high, and success seemed assured. Within two years it was
practically dead. No more congresses were held, the partisans
dwindled away, the local clubs dissolved, the newspapers failed,
and the whole movement came to an end. There only remained
a new academy founded by Bishop Schleyer, and here and there
a group of the faithful.*
The chief reason of this failure was internal dissension. First
arose the question of principle : Should Volapiik aim at being
a literary language, capable of expressing all the finer shades
of thought and feeling? or should it confine itself to being a
practical means of business communication ?
Bishop Schleyer claimed for his invention an equal rank
among the literary languages of the world. The practical party,
headed by M. Kerckhoffs, wished to keep it utilitarian and
practical. With the object of increasing its utility, they proposed
certain changes in the language ; and thus there arose, in the
second place, differences of opinion as to fundamental points
of structure, such as the nature and origin of the roots to be
adopted. Vital questions were thus reopened, and the whole
language was thrown back into the melting-pot.
The first congress was held at Friedrichshafen in August 1884,
and was attended almost exclusively by Germans. The second
congress, Munich, August 1887, brought together over 200
Volapiikists from different countries. A professor of geology
from Halle University was elected president, and an International
Academy of Volapiik was founded.
Then the trouble began. M. Kerckhoffs was unanimously
elected director of the academy, and Bishop Schleyer was made
* A Volapiik journal still appears in Graz, Stiria — Volapukabled lezenodik.
The editor has just (March 1907) retired, and the veteran Bishop Schleyer,
now seventy-five years old, is taking up the editorship again.
A CASE OF DISPUTED PATERNITY 95
grand-master (cifaf) for life. Questions arose as to the duties
of the academy and the respective powers of the inventor of the
language and the academicians. M. Kerckhoffs was all along
the guiding spirit on the side of the academy. He was in the
main supported by the Volapiik world, though there seems to
have been some tendency, at any rate at first, on the part of the
Germans to back the bishop. It is impossible to go into details
of the points at issue. Suffice it to say, that eventually the
director of the academy carried a resolution giving the inventor
three votes to every one of ordinary members in all academy
divisions, but refusing him the right of veto, which he claimed.
The bishop replied by a threat to depose M. Kerckhoffs from the
directorship, which of course he could not make good. The
constitution of the academy was only binding inasmuch as it had
been drawn up and adopted by the constituent members, and it
gave no such powers to the inventor.
So here was a very pretty quarrel as to the ownership of
Volapiik. The bishop said it belonged to him, as he had
invented it : he was its father. The academy said it belonged
to the public, who had a right to amend it in the common
interest. This child, which had newly opened its eyes and
smiled upon the world, and upon which the world was then
smiling back — was it a son domiciled in its father's house and
fully in patria potestatet or a ward in the guardianship of its
chief promoters ? or an orphan foundling, to be boarded out
on the scattered-home system at the public expense, and to
be brought up to be useful to the community at large ? A
vexed question of paternity ; and the worst of it was, there
was no international court competent to try the case.
Meantime the congress of 1889 at Paris came on. Volapiik
was booming everywhere. Left to itself, it flourished like a green
bay-tree. This meeting was to set an official seal upon its
success ; and governments, convinced by this thing done openly
in the ville lumtire, would accept the fait accompli and introduce
it into their schools.
96 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Thirteen countries sent representatives, including Turkey and
China. The great Kerckhoffs was elected president. The
proceedings were in Volapiik. The foundling's future was
canvassed in terms of himself by a cosmopolitan board of
guardians, who did not yet know what he was. Rather a
Gilbertian situation. Trying a higher flight, we may say, in
Platonic phrase, that Volapiik seemed to be about midway
between being and not-being. It is a far cry from Gilbert vid
Plato to Mr. Kipling, but perhaps Volapiik, at this juncture, may
be most aptly described as a " sort of a giddy harumphrodite,"
if not " a devil an' a ostrich an' a orphan-child in one."
Business done : The congress discusses.
The congress passed a resolution that there should be drawn
up " a simple normal grammar, from which all useless rules
should be excluded," and proceeded to adopt a final constitution
for the Volapiik Academy.
Article 15 says: "The decisions of the academy must be at
once submitted to the inventor. If the inventor has not
within thirty days protested against the decisions, they are
valid. Decisions not approved by the inventor are referred
back to the academy, and are valid if carried by a two-thirds
majority."
The bishop held out for his right of absolute veto, as his
episcopal fellows and their colleagues are doing " in another
place " in England. The conflict presents some analogy with
other graver constitutional matters, involving discussion of the
respective merits of absolute and suspensive veto, and may there-
fore have some interest at present, apart from its great
importance in any scheme for an international language.
The upshot was that dissensions broke out within the academy.
The director, unable to .carry a complete scheme of reformed
grammar, resigned (1891), and the academy, whose business it was
to arrange the next congress and keep the movement going, never
convened a fourth congress. Several academicians set to work
on new artificial languages of their own ; and what was left of
ENGLISH SCHOLARS VERSUS AMERICAN 97
the Academy of Volapiik, under a new director, M. Rosenberger,
a St. Petersburg railway engineer, elected 1893, subsequently
turned its attention to working out a new language, to which
was given the name Idiom Neutral (see next chapter).
It is interesting to note that, when Volapiik was nearing its
high-water mark, the American Philosophical Society appointed
a committee (October 1887) to inquire into its scientific value.
This committee reported in November 1887. The report states
that the creation of an international language is in conformity with
the general tendency of modern civilization, and is not merely
desirable, but " will certainly be realized." It goes on to reject
Volapiik as the solution of the problem, as being on the whole
retrogade in tendency. It is too arbitrary in construction, and
not international enough in vocabulary ; nor does it correspond
to the general trend of development of language, which is away
from a synthetic grammar (inflection by means of terminations,
as in Latin and Greek) and towards an analytic one (inflection by
termination replaced by prepositions and auxiliaries).
But the committee was so fully convinced of the importance of
an international language, that it proposed to the Philosophical
Society that it should invite all the learned societies of the
world to co-operate in the production of a universal language.
A resolution embodying this recommendation was adopted by
the society, and the invitations were sent out. About twenty
societies accepted — among them the University of Edinburgh.
The Scots again !
The London Philological Society commissioned Mr. Ellis to
investigate the subject, and upon his report declined to co-operate.
Mr. Ellis was a believer in Volapiik, and furthermore did not
agree with the American Philosophical Society's conclusion that
an international language ought to be founded on an Indo-
Germanic (Aryan) basis. In this Mr. Ellis was almost certainly
wrong, as subsequent experience is tending to show. The
Japanese, among others, are taking up Esperanto with enthusiasm,
7
98 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
find it easy, and make no difficulty about its Aryan basis. But,
apart from linguistic considerations, Mr. Ellis's practical reasoning
was certainly sound. It was to this effect : The main thing is to
adopt a language that is already in wide use and shown to be
adequate. Alterations bring dissension ; by sticking to what we
have already got, imperfections and all, strife is avoided, and the
thing is at once reduced to practice.
This was a wise counsel, and applies to-day with double force
to the present holder of the field, Esperanto, which is besides, in
the opinion of experts, a better language than Volapiik, and far
easier to acquire.
However, on the question of technical merits, the American
Philosophical Society was probably right, as against the London
Philological Society represented by Mr. Ellis. And the proof
is that Volapiik died — primarily, indeed, of dissensions among
its partisans, but of dissensions superinduced on inherent defects
of principle. That this is true may be seen from the subsequent
history of the Volapiik movement. This is briefly narrated in the
next chapter, under the name of Idiom Neutral.
HISTORY OF IDIOM NEUTRAL
WE saw above that M. Kerckhoffs was succeeded in the director-
ship of the Volapiik Academy, 1893, by M. Rosenberger, of
St. Petersburg. During his term of office the academy continued
its work of amending and improving the language. The method
of procedure was as follows : The director elaborated proposals,
which he embodied in circulars and sent round from time to time
to his fellow-academicians. They voted " Yes " or " No," so that
the language, when finished, was approved by them all, and was
the joint product of the academy ; but it was, in its new form, to
a great extent, the work of the director. At the end of his term
PAUCITY OF NEUTRALISTS 99
of office it was practically complete. It had undergone a complete
transformation, and was now called Idiom Neutral.
In 1898 M. Rosenberger was succeeded by Rev. A. F. Holmes,
of Macedon, New York State. The members of the academy
vary from time to time, and include (or have included since 1898)
natives of America, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Ger-
many, Holland, Italy, and Russia.
Dictionaries of Idiom Neutral have been published in English
(in America), German, and Dutch ; but the language hardly seems
to be in use except among the members of the academy. These
do not meet, but carry on their business by means of circulars,
drawn up, of course, in Neutral. There are at present only four
groups of Neutralists — those of St. Petersburg, Nuremberg,
Brussels, and San Antonio, Texas. The famous linguistic club
of Nuremberg is remarkable for having gone through the evolution
from Volapiik to Idiom Neutral vid Esperanto ! Besides these
four groups, there are isolated Neutralists in certain towns in
Great Britain. The academy seems still to have some points to
settle, and the work of propaganda has hardly yet begun.
A paper published in Brussels, under the name of Idei Inter-
national, seems to represent the ideas of scattered Neutralists,
and of some partisans of other schemes based on Romance
vocabulary. These languages resemble each other greatly, and
some sanguine spirits dream that they may be fused together into
the ultimate international language. A few even hope for an
amalgamation with Esperanto, through the medium of a reformed
type of Esperanto, which approximates more nearly to these
newer schemes, its vocabulary being, like theirs, almost entirely
Romance. A series of modifications was published tentatively
by Dr. Zamenhof himself in 1894, but was suppressed from
practical considerations, having regard to the fate that overtook
Volapiik, when once it fell into the hands of reformers. The
so-called reforms never represented the real ideas of Zamenhof,
and were rather in the nature of reluctant concessions to the
weaker brethren. They were never introduced.
ioo INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
The reader may be interested to compare for himself specimens
of Volapiik, Idiom Neutral (its lineal descendant), and Esperanto.
This Esperanto is the only one in use, most Esperantists having
never even heard of the reform project, which was at once
dropped, before the language had entered upon its present
cosmopolitan extension. The following versions of the Lord's
Prayer are taken from MM. Couturat and Leau's History, as are
the facts in the above narratives, with the exception of the latest
details :
VOLAPUK
O Fat obas, kel binol in siils, paisaludomoz nem ola ! Komo-
mod monargan ola ! Jenomoz vil olik, as in siil, i su tal ! Bodi
obsik vadeliki givolos obes adelo ! E pardolos obes debis
obsik, as id obs aipardobs debeles obas. E no obis nindukolos
in tentadi ; sod aidalivolos obis de bad. Jenosod !
IDIOM NEUTRAL*
Nostr patr kel es in sieli ! Ke votr nom es sanktifiked ; ke
votr regnia veni ; ke votr volu es fasied, kuale in siel, tale et su
ter. Dona sidiurne a noi nostr pan omnidiurnik ; e pardona (a)
noi nostr debiti, kuale et noi pardon a nostr debtatori ; e no
induka noi in tentasion, ma librifika noi da it mal.
ESPERANTO
Patro nia, kiu estas en la cielo, sankta estu via nomo ; venu
regeco via ; estu volo via, kiel en la cielo, tiel ankau sur la tero.
Panon nian ciutagan donu al ni hodiau ; kaj pardonu al ni suldojn
niajn, kiel ni- ankau pardonas al niaj suldantoj ; kaj ne konduku
nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malbono.
* There are two forms of Idiom Neutral, — one called " pure," authorized by
the academy ; the other used in the paper Idei International.
SUPERIORITY OF ESPERANTO 101
Comparing Volapiik with Idiom Neutral, even this brief speci-
men is enough to show the main line of improvement. The
framers of the latter had realized the fact that the vocabulary is
the first and paramount consideration for an artificial language.
It is hopeless to expect people to learn strings of words of
arbitrary formation and like nothing they ever saw. Accordingly
Idiom Neutral borrows its vocabulary from natural speech, and
thereby abandons a regularity which may be theoretically more
perfect, but which by arbitrary disfigurement of familiar words
overreaches itself, and does more harm than good.
It is very instructive to note that a body of international
language specialists were brought little by little to adopt an almost
exclusively Romance vocabulary, and this in spite of the fact that
they started from Volapuk, whose vocabulary is constructed on
quite other lines. In other points their language suffers from
being too exclusively inspired by Volapiikist principles, so that
their recognition of the necessity of an a posteriori vocabulary
is the more convincing.
Given, then, that vocabulary is to be borrowed and not created
anew, it is obvious that the principle of borrowing must be
maximum of internationality of roots — i.e. those words will be
adopted by preference which are already common to the greatest
number of chief languages. Now, by far the greater number of
such international words (which are far more numerous than was
thought before a special study was made of the subject) are
Romance, being of Latin origin. This i& the justification of the
prevalence of the Romance element in any modern artificial
language. It has been frequently made a reproach against
Esperanto that it is a Romance language ; but the unanimous
verdict of the competent linguists who composed the academy for
the emendation of Volapuk may be taken as final. They threshed
the question out once for all, and their conclusion derives added
force from the fact that it is the result of conversion.
But it may be doubted whether they have not gone rather far
in this direction and overshot the mark.
102 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Comparing Idiom Neutral with Esperanto, it will be found that
the latter admits a larger proportion of non-Romance words.
While fully recognizing and doing justice to the accepted principle
of selection, maximum of internationality, Esperanto sometimes
gives the preference to a non-Romance word in order to avoid
ambiguity and secure a perfectly distinct root from which to form
derivatives incapable of confusion with others.* There is always
a good reason for the choice ; but it is easier to appreciate this
after learning the language.
But a mere comparison of the brief texts given above will bring
out another point in favour of Esperanto — its full vocalic endings.
On the other hand, many words in Idiom Neutral present a
mutilated appearance to the eye, and, what is a much greater sin
in an international language, offer grave difficulties of pronuncia-
tion to speakers of many nations. Words ending with a double
consonant are very frequent, e.g. nostr pair ; and these will be
unpronounceable for many nations, e.g. for an Italian or a Japanese.
Euphony is one of the strongest of the many strong points of
Esperanto. In it the principle of maximum of internationality
has been applied to sounds as well as forms, and there are very
few sounds that will be a stumbling-block to any considerable
number of speakers. Some of its modern rivals seem to forget
that a language is to be spoken as well as written. When a
language is unfamiliar to the listener, he is greatly aided in
understanding it if the vowel-sounds are long and full and the
pronunciation slow, almost drawling. Esperanto fulfils these
requisites in a marked degree. It is far easier to dwell upon
two-syllabled words with full vocalic endings like patro nia than
upon awkward words like nostr pair.
Yet another advantage of Esperanto is illustrated in the same
texts. Owing to its system of inflexion and the possession of an
* It is obvious, too, that English, Germans, and Slavs will be more
attracted to a language which borrows some of its features from their own
tongues, than to an entirely Romance language. This relatively wider
international appeal is another advantage of Esperanto.
SQUARING THE CIRCLE 103
objective case, it is extremely flexible, and can put the words in
j.lmost any order, without obscuring the sense. Thus, in the
translation of the Pater Noster, the Esperanto text follows the
Latin word for word and in the same order. It is obvious that
this flexibility confers great advantages for purposes of faithful
and spirited translation.
VI
THE NEWEST LANGUAGES: A NEO-LATIN GROUP— GROPINGS
TOWARDS A " PAN-EUROPEAN " AMALGAMATED SCHEME
A PERUSAL of the list of schemes proposed (pp. 76-87) shows
that the last few years have produced quite a crop of artificial
languages. Now that the main principles necessary to success
are coming to be recognized, the points of difference between
the rival schemes are narrowing down, and, as mentioned in
the last chapter, there is a family likeness between many of the
newer projects. The chief of these are : Idiom Neutral ; Pan-
Roman or Universal, by Dr. Molenaar; Latino sine flexione,
by Prof. Peano ; Mundolingue ; Nuove- Roman ; and Lingua
Komun.
These have been grouped together by certain adversaries as
" Neo- Roman " ; but their partisans seem to prefer the collective
term "Neo-Latin." There are more or less vague hopes that
out of them may be evolved a final form of international
language, for which the names Pan-European and Union-Ling
have been suggested. Dr. Molenaar has declared his willingness
to keep to his original title, Pan-Roman, for his own language,
if the composite one should prefer to be called Universal.
Prof. Peano says, in the course of an article (written in his own
language, of course), " any fresh solution in the future can only
differ from Idiom Neutral, as two medical or mathematical
treatises dealing with the same subject."
The only definite scheme for common action put forth up to
io4 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
now seems to be that proposed by Dr. Molenaar. In January
1907 he sent round a circular written in French, in which he
makes the following propositions :
All authors and notable partisans of Neo-Latin universal
languages shall meet in a special academy, which will elaborate
a compromise-language.
As regards the programme, the three fundamental principles
shall be :
1. Internationally and comprehensibility.
2. Simplicity and regularity.
3. Homogeneity and euphony.
Of these principles, No. i is to take precedence of No. 2, and
No. 2 of No. 3.
The order of discussion is to be :
I. GRAMMAR
(a) Alphabet.
(If) Articles (necessary or not ?).
(r) Declension.
(d) Plural (-s or -/?).
(e) Adjective (invariable or not ?).
(/) Adverb, etc.
II. VOCABULARY
The number of collaborators is to be limited to about twenty,
and the chairman is to be a non-partisan.
Such, in outline, is the proposal of Dr. Molenaar. An obvious
criticism is that it falls back into the old mistake of putting
grammar before vocabulary.
From a practical point of view such a composite scheme is not
likely to meet with acceptance. It will be very hard for authors
of languages to be impartial and sacrifice their favourite devices
PACIFIC PENETRATION 105
to the common opinion. M. Bollack, author of the Langue
bleue, has already refused the chairmanship. He does not see
the use of founding a fresh academy, and thinks Dr. Molenaar
would do better to join forces with the Neutralists.
There exists indeed already an " Akademi International de
Lingu Universal," which has produced Idiom Neutral, and of
which Mr. Holmes is still director, now in his second term (see
preceding chapter). This academy is said to be too one-sided
in its composition, and not scientific. But it is hard to see how
it will abdicate in favour of a new one.
Meantime, the victorious Esperantists, at present in possession
of the field, poke fun at these new-fangled schemes. A parody
in Esperanto verse, entitled Lingvo de Molenaar, and sung to
the tune of the American song Riding down from Bangor^
narrates the fickleness of Pan-Roman and how it changed into
Universal. It is said that a group of Continental Esperantists,
at a convivial sitting, burnt the apostate Idiom Neutral in effigy
by making a bonfire of Neutral literature. On the other side
amenities are not wanting. It is now the fashion to sling mud
at a rival language by calling it " arbitrary " and " fantastic " ;
and these epithets are freely applied to Esperanto. Strong in
their cause, the Esperantists are peacefully preparing the Congress
of Cambridge.
VII
HISTORY OF ESPERANTO
HAPPY is the nation that has no history, — still happier the inter-
national language ; for a policy of " pacific penetration " offers
few picturesque incidents to furnish forth a readable narrative.
In the case of Esperanto there have been no splits or factions ;
no narrow ring of oligarchs has cornered the language for its own
purposes, or insisted upon its aristocratic and non-popular side in
the supposed interests of culture or literary taste ; consequently
io6 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
there has been no secession of the plebs. In the early days of
Esperanto there was indeed an attempt to found an Esperanto
league; but when it was seen that the league did little beyond
suggest alterations, it was wisely dissolved in 1894. Since then
Esperanto has been run purely on its merits as a language, and
has expressly dissociated itself from any political, pacifist, or other
propaganda. Its story is one of quiet progress — at first very
slow, but within the last five years wonderfully rapid, and still
accelerating. The most sensational episode in this peaceful
advance was the prohibition of the principal Esperantist organ by
the Russian censorship, so that there is little to do, save record
one or two leading facts and dates.
The inventor of Esperanto is a Polish doctor, Ludwig Lazarus
Zamenhof, now living in Warsaw. He was born in 1859 at
Bielostock, a town which has lately become notorious as the scene
of one of the terrible Russian pogroms, or interracial butcheries.
This tragedy was only the culmination of a chronic state of
misunderstanding, which long ago so impressed thfr young
Zamenhof that, when still quite a boy, he resolved to labour for
the removal of one cause of it by facilitating mutual intercourse.
He has practically devoted his life first to the elaboration of his
language, and of later years to the vast amount of business that
its extension involves. And it has been a labour of love.
Zamenhof is an idealist. His action, in all that concerns Esper-
anto, has been characterized throughout by a generosity and self-
effacement that well correspond to the humanitarian nature of the
inspiration that produced it. He has renounced all personal
rights in and control of the Esperanto language, and kept
studiously in the background till the first International Congress
two years ago forced him into the open, when he emerged from
his retirement to take his rightful place before the eyes of the
peoples whom his invention had brought together.
But he is not merely an idealist : he is a practical idealist.
This is shown by his self-restraint and practical wisdom in guiding
events. One of the symptoms of "catching Esperanto" is a
WISDOM OF DR. ZAMENHOF 107
desire to introduce improvements. This morbid propensity to
jejune amateur tinkering, a kind of measles of the mind (inorbus
linguificus*} attacks the immature in years or judgment. A riper
acquaintance with the history and practical aims of international
language purges it from the system. We have all been through
it. For the inventor of Esperanto, accustomed for so many years
to retouch, modify, and revise, it must require no ordinary degree
of self-control to keep his hands off, and leave the fate of his
offspring to others. It grew with his growth, developing with his
experience, and he best knows where the shoe pinches and what
might yet be done. But he has the fate of Volapiik before his
eyes. He knows that, having wrought speech for the people,
he must leave it to the people, if he wishes them to use and keep
using it.
Contrast the uncompromising attitude of the inventor of
Volapiik, Bishop Schleyer. It will be remembered how he let
Volapiik run upon the rocks rather than relinquish the helm.
He has been nicknamed " the Volapukist Pope " — and indeed he
made the great and fatal bull of believing in his own infallibility.
Zamenhof has never pretended to this. When he first published
his language, he made no claim to finality on its behalf. He
called for criticisms, and contemplated completing and modifying
his scheme in accordance with them. He even offered to make
over this task to a duly constituted academy, if people would
come forward and throw themselves into the work. Again, some
years later, in a pamphlet, Choix d'une langue Internationale, he
proposed a scheme for obtaining a competent impartial verdict,
and declared his willingness to submit to it. At one time he
thought of something in the nature of a plebiscite. Later, his
renunciation of the last vestige of control, in giving up the aprobo,
or official sanction of books ; his attitude at the international
congresses ; his refusal to accept the presidency ; his reluctance
* An expressive (homoeopathic) name for this malady may be coined in
Esperanto : malsano lingvotrudema =» officious or intrusive disease, con-
sisting in an itch for coining language.
io8 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
to name or influence the selection of the members of the body
charged with the control of the language ; his declaration that his
own works have no legislative power, but are merely those of an
Esperantist ; finally, his sane conception of the scope and method
of future development of the language to meet new needs, and of
the limits within which it is possible, — all this bespeaks the man
who has a clear idea of what he is aiming at, and a shrewd grasp
of the conditions necessary to ensure success.
The word Esperanto is the present participle of the verb
esperi — " to hope," used substantially. It was under the
pseudonym of Dr. Esperanto that Zamenhof published his scheme
in 1887 at Warsaw, and the name has stuck to the language.
Before publication it had been cast and recast many times in the
mind of its author, and it is curious to note that in the course of
its evolution he had himself been through the principal stages
exhibited in the history of artificial language projects for the last
three hundred years. That is to say, he began with the idea of
an a priori language with made-up words and arbitrary grammar,
and gradually advanced to the conception of an a posteriori
language, borrowing its vocabulary from the roots common to
several existing languages and presenting in its grammar a
simplification of Indo-European grammar.
He began to learn English at a comparatively advanced stage
of his education, and the simplicity of its grammar and syntax
was a revelation to him. It had a powerful influence in helping
him to frame his grammar, which underwent a new transformation.
Specimens of the language as Zamenhof used to speak it with his
school and student friends show a wide divergence from its
present form. He seems to have had cruel disappointments, and
was disillusioned by the falling away of youthful comrades who
had promised to fight the battles of the language they practised
with enthusiasm at school. During long years of depression
work at the language seems to have been almost his one resource.
Its absolute simplicity is deceptive as to the immense labour it
AN ARDENT APOSTLE 109
must have cost a single man to work it out. This is only fully
to be appreciated by one who has some knowledge of former
attempts. Zamenhof himself admits that, if he had known earlier
of the existence of Volapuk, he would never have had the courage
to continue his task, though he was conscious of the superiority
of his own solution. When, after long hesitation, he made up his
mind to try his luck and give his language to the world,
Volapuk was strong, but already involved in internal strife.
Zamenhofs book appeared first in Russian, and the same year
(1887) French and German editions appeared at Warsaw. The
first instruction book in English appeared in the following year.
The only name on the title-page is " St. J.," and it passed quite
unnoticed.
Progress was at first very slow. The firs); flgpejantn sncip.tv
was founded in St. Petersburg, 1892, under the name of La Espero.
"As early as 1889 the pioneer Esperanto newspaper, La Esperan-
fisio* conducted chiefly by Russians and circulated mainly in
Russia, began to appear in Nuremberg, where there was already a
distinguished Volapuk club, afterwards converted to Esperanto.
Since then Nuremberg has continued to be a centre of light in
the movement for an international language. The other pioneer
newspapers were L' Esptrantiste, founded in 1898 at Epernay by
the Marquis de Beaufront, and La Lttmo of Montreal.
In Germany in the early days of Esperanto the great apostles
were Einstein and Trompeter, and it was owing to the liberality
of the latter that the Nuremberg venture was rendered possible.
Somewhat later began in France the activity of the greatest and
most fervent of all the apostles of Esperanto, the Marquis de
Beaufront. By an extraordinary coincidence he had ready for the
press a grammar and complete dictionary of a language of his own,
named Adjuvanto. When he became acquainted with Esperanto,
he recognized that it was in certain points superior to his own
* Afterwards prohibited in Russia, owing to the collaboration of Count
Tolstoi, and transferred to Upsala under the name Lingvo Internacia.
Since 1902 it has been published in Paris.
no INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
language, though the two were remarkably similar. He sup-
pressed his own scheme altogether, and threw himself heart
and soul into the work of spreading Esperanto. In a series of
grammars, commentaries, and dictionaries he expounded the
language and made it accessible to numbers who, without his
energy and zeal, would never have been interested in it. Among
other well-known French leaders are General Sebert, of the French
Institute, M. Boirac, Rector of the Dijon University, and M. Gaston
Moch, editor of the Independence Beige.
In England the pioneer was Mr. Joseph Rhodes, who, with
Mr. Ellis, founded the first .English group at Keighley in November
1902.* Just a year later appeared the first English Esperanto
journal, The Esperantist, edited by Mr. H. Bolingbroke Mudie,
London. Since 1905 it has been incorporated with The British
Esperantist, the official organ of the British Esperanto Association.
The association was founded in October 1904.
The first international congress was held at Boulogne in
August 1905. It was organized almost entirely by the presi-
dent of the local group, M. Michaux, a leading barrister and
brilliant lecturer and propagandist. It was an immense success,
and inaugurated a series of annual congresses, which are doing
great work in disseminating the idea of international language.
The second was held in Geneva, August 1906 ; and the third
will be held at Cambridge, August 10-17, I9°7- I* IS unneces-
sary to describe the congresses here, as an account has been
given in an early chapter (see pp. 9-12 and 14-15).
Within the last three or four years Esperanto has spread all
over the world, and fresh societies and newspapers are springing
up on every side. Since the convincing demonstration afforded
by the Geneva Congress, Switzerland is beginning to take the
movement seriously. Many classes and lectures have been held,
and the university is also now lending its aid. In the present
* The foundation of the London Esperanto Club took place at practically
the same time, and the club became the headquarters of the movement in
Great Britain.
THE HANDMAID OF SCIENCE in
year (1907) an International Esperantist Scientific Office has been
founded in Geneva, with M. Rene" de Saussure as director, and
amongst the members of the auxiliary committee are seventeen
professors and eight privat-docents (lecturers) of the Geneva
University.
Its object is to secure the recognition of Esperanto for scientific
purposes, and to practically facilitate its use. To this end the
office carries on the work of collecting technical vocabularies
of Esperanto, with the aid of all scientists whose assistance it
may receive. This is perhaps the most practical step yet taken
towards the standardization of technical terms, which is so badly
needed in all branches of science. A universal language offers
the best solution of the vexed question, because it starts with a
clean sheet. Once a term has been admitted, by the competent
committee for a particular branch of science, into the technical
Esperanto vocabulary of that science, it becomes universal, because
it has no pre-existent rivals ; and its universal recognition in the
auxiliary language will react upon writers' usage in their own
language.
The Geneva office will also aid in editing scientific Esperantist
reviews ; and the chief existing one, the Internacia Scienca Revuo,
will henceforth be published in Geneva instead of in Paris, as
hitherto.
The two principal objects of the Esperantist Scientific
Association are :
1. Scientists should always use Esperanto during their inter-
national congresses.
2. Scientific periodicals should accept articles written in
Esperanto (as they now do in the case of English, French,
German, and Italian), and should publish in Esperanto a brief
summary of every article written in a national language.
A few weeks after the Geneva Congress there was a controversy
on the subject of Esperanto between two of the best known and
most widely read Swiss and French newspapers — the Paris Figaro
and the Journal de Geneve. The respective champions were
ii2 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
the Comte d'Haussonville, of the Academic Frangaise, and
M. de Saussure, a member of a highly distinguished Swiss
scientific family ; and the matter caused a good deal of interest
on the Continent. France was, in this case, reactionary and
ancien regime : the smaller Republic backed Esperanto and
progress. M. de Saussure brought forward facts, and the count
served up the old arguments about Esperanto being unpatriotic
and the prejudice it would inflict upon literature. The whole
thing was a good illustration of a fact that is already becoming
prominent in the history of the auxiliary language movement —
the scientists are much more favourable than the literary men.
As regards educational reform, the conservative attitude of the
classicists is well known, though there are many exceptions,
especially among real teachers. But it is somewhat remarkable
that, when the proposed reform deals with language, those whose
business it is to know about languages should not take the trouble
to examine the scheme properly, before giving an opinion one
way or the other.
As this question of the attitude of literary men has, and will
have, a vital bearing upon the prospects of international language,
and consequently upon its history, this is perhaps the place
to remove a misunderstanding. A distinguished literary man
objected to the foregoing passage as a stricture upon men of
letters. His point was : " Of course literary men care less for
Esperanto than scientific men do : it must be so, because they
need it less." Now this is quite true : there is little doubt that
to-day science is, perhaps inevitably, more cosmopolitan than
letters, whatever people may say about " the world-wide republic
of letters." But it does not meet the point. Esperantists do not
complain because men of letters are not interested in Esperanto.
They have their own interests and occupations, and nobody would
be so absurd as to make it a grievance that they will not submit
to have thrust upon them a language for which they have no taste
or use. What Esperantists do very strongly object to is that
some literary men lend the weight of their name and position to
LITERARY MEN, PLEASE NOTE 113
irresponsible criticism. Let them take or leave Esperanto as
seems good to them. Their responsible opinions, based upon due
study of the question, are always eagerly welcomed. But do not let
them misrepresent Esperanto to the public, thereby unfairly pre-
judicing its judgment. Such action is unworthy of serious men.
When a man puts forward criticisms of Esperanto based upon
elementary errors of fact, or complains that Esperantists will
not listen to reason because they ignore proposals for change,
which have long ago been threshed out and found wanting, or
are obviously unpractical, he is merely showing that he has not
studied the question. A fair analogy would be the case of a
chemist or engineer who had recently begun to dabble in Greek
in his spare moments, and who should undertake to emend
the text of Sophocles. His suggestions would show that he
knew no Greek, that he had never heard of Sir Richard Jebb,
and that he was ignorant of all the results of scientific textual
criticism. But here comes in the difference. Such a critic
would be laughed out of court, and told to mind his own
business, or else learn Greek before he undertook to emend
it. But as international language is a novelty to most people, it
is thought that any one can make, mend, or criticise it. It is not,
like Greek, yet recognized as a serious subject, and therefore
irresponsible criticism is too apt to be taken at its face value,
merely on the ipse dixit of the critic, especially if he happens to
be an influential man in some other line. Nobody bothers about
his qualifications in international language ; nobody either knows
or cares whether he has any claim to be heard on the subject
at all.
The fact is that international language now has a consider-
able history behind it. A large amount of experience has been
amassed, and is now available for any one who is willing and
competent to go into the question. But, in order to do fruitful
work in this field, it is just as necessary as in any other to be
properly equipped, and to know where others have left off, before
you begin.
8
ii4 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
At the first international congress at Boulogne the history
of Esperanto was well summed up in a thoughtful speech by
Dr. Bein, of Poland, himself a considerable Esperantist author,
using the nom de guerre " Kabe." He pointed out that we are
still in the first or propaganda stage of international language, in
which it is necessary to hold congresses, and the language is
treated as an end in itself. There is good hope that the second
stage may soon be reached, in which the language may be
sufficiently recognized to take its proper place as a means.
Meantime, the first stage of Esperanto has been marked by
three phases or periods — the Russian period, the French period,
and the international period. Each has left its mark upon the
language.
The Russian period is associated with the names of Kofman,
Grabowski, Silesnjov, Gernet, Zinovjev, and many other writers
of considerable literary power. Being the pioneers, they had to
prove the capabilities of the language to the world, and in doing
so they took off some of the rough of the world's indifference and
scepticism. The language benefited by the fact that the first
authors were Slavs. The simplicity of the Slav syntax, the logical
arrangement of the sentences, the perfectly free and natural order
of the words, passed unconsciously from their native language to
the new one in the hands of these writers, and have been imitated
by their successors.
The French period is associated chiefly with the name of
M. de Beaufront. In Russia, side by side with the good points
named above, certain less desirable Slavisms were creeping in ;
also there were hitherto no scientific dictionaries or explanation
of syntax. As Dr. Bein says, de Beaufront may be called "the
codifier of Esperanto." A goodly band of French writers now
took the language in hand, and by their natural power of
expression and exposition, which seems inborn in a French-
man, and by their national passion for lucidity, they have no
doubt strengthened the impulse of Esperanto towards clear-cut,
vigorous style.
SWEET SIMPLICITY 115
Possibly theorizing has been overdone in France ; for, after all,
the strong point of Esperanto syntax is that there is none to speak
of, common sense being the guide. It is a pity to set up rules
where none are necessary, or to do anything that can produce an
impression in the minds of the uninitiated that learning Esperanto
means anything approaching the memory drudgery necessary in
grasping the rules and constructions of national languages.
The third period began soon after the turn of the century,
and is still in full force. Take up any chance number of any
Esperanto gazette out of the numbers that are published all over
the world; you will hardly be able to draw any conclusion as
to the nationality of the writer of the article you light upon, save
perhaps for an occasional turn of an unpractised hand. Esperanto
now has its style ; it is — lucidity based upon common sense and the
rudiments of a minimized grammar.
This chapter would not be complete without some account of
the constitution of Esperanto, and the means which have been
adopted to safeguard the purity of the language. It will be well
to quote in full the Declaration adopted at Boulogne, in which
its aim is set forth, and which forms, as it were, its written
constitution. For the convenience of readers the Esperanto text
and English translation are printed in parallel columns.
DEKLARACIO DECLARATION
Car pri la esenco de Esperan- Because many have a very
tismo multaj havas tre malveran false idea of the nature of
ideon, tial ni subskribintoj, Esperanto, therefore we, the
reprezentantoj de la Esperan- undersigned, representing the
tismo en diversaj landoj de la cause of Esperanto in different
mondo, kunvenintaj al la In- countries of the world, having
ternacia Kongreso Esperantista met together at the Inter-
en Boulogne - sur - Mer, trovis national Esperanto Congress in
necesa, laii la propono de la Boulogne-sur-Mer, have thought
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
autoro de la lingvo Esperanto,
doni la sekvantan klarigon :
i. La Esperantismo estas
penado disvastigi en la tuta
mondo la uzadon de lingvo
neiitrale homa, kiu, "ne entru-
dante sin en la internan vivon
de la popoloj kaj neniom celante
elpusi la ekzistantajn lingvojn
naciajn," donus al la homoj
de malsamaj nacioj la eblon
komprenigadi inter si, kiu povus
servi kiel paciga lingvo de
publikaj institucioj en tiuj landoj
kie diversaj nacioj batalas inter
si pri la lingvo, kaj en kiu povus
esti publikigataj tiuj verkoj kiuj
havas egalan intereson por ciuj
popoloj.
Ciu alia ideo au espero kiun
tiu ati alia Esperantisto ligas
kun la Esperantismo estos lia
afero pure privata, por kiu la
Esperantismo ne respondas.
2. Car en la nuna tempo
neniu esploranto en la tuta
mondo jam dubas pri tio, ke
lingvo internacia povas esti nur
lingvo arta, kaj car, el ciuj mult-
it necessary, at the suggestion
of the author of the Esperanto
language, to give the following
explanation :
1. Esperanto in its essence
is an attempt to diffuse over
the whole world a language
belonging to mankind without
distinction, which, "not intrud-
ing upon the internal life of
the peoples and in nowise
aiming to drive out the existing
national languages," should give
to men of different nations the
possibility of becoming mutually
comprehensible, which might
serve as a peace-making lan-
guage for public institutions in
those lands where different
nations are involved in strife
about their language, and in
which might be published those
works which possess an equal
interest for all peoples.
Any other idea or hope which
this or that Esperantist asso-
ciates with Esperanto will be
his purely personal business,
for which Esperanto is not
responsible.
2. Because at the present
time no one who looks out over
the whole world any longer
doubts that an international
language can only be an artificial
OFFICIAL PROGRAMME OF ESPERANTO 117
egaj provoj faritaj en la dauro
de la lastaj du centjaroj, ciuj
prezentas nur teorajn projek-
tojn, kaj lingvo efektive finita,
ciuflanke elprovita, perfekte
vivipova, kaj en ciuj rilatoj pleje
tauga montrigis nur unu sola
lingvo, Esperanto, tial la amikoj
de la ideo de lingvo internacia,
konsciante ke teoria disputado
kondukos al nenio kaj ke la
celo povas esti atingita nur per
laborado praktika, jam de longe
ciuj grupigis cirkau la sola
lingvo, Esperanto, kaj laboras
por gia disvastigado kaj ricigado
de gia literaturo.
3. Car la autoro de la lingvo
Esperanto tuj en la komenco
rifuzis, unu fojon por ciam, ciujn
personajn rajtojn kaj privilegiojn
rilate tiun lingvon, tial Esper-
anto estas "nenies proprajo,"
nek en rilato materiala, nek en
rilato morala.
Materiala mastro de tiu £i
lingvo estas la tuta mondo, kaj
fciu deziranto povas eldonadi
en au pri tiu ci lingvo ciajn
verkojn kiajn li deziras, kaj
one, and because, of all the very
numerous attempts made in the
course of the last two hundred
years, all offer merely theoretical
solutions, and only one single
language, Esperanto, has shown
itself to be in practice com-
plete, fully tested on every side,
perfectly capable of living use,
and in every respect completely
adequate, therefore the friends
of the idea of international
language, recognizing that theo-
retical discussion will lead to
nothing and that the end can
only be attained by practical
and continuous effort, have long
grouped themselves around one
single language, Esperanto, and
are labouring to disseminate it
and to enrich its literature.
3. Because the author of the
Esperanto language from the
very beginning refused, once
for all, all personal rights and
privileges connected with that
language, therefore Esperanto
is "the property of no one,"
either from a material or moral
point of view.
Materially speaking, the whole
world is master of this language,
and any one who wishes can
publish in or about this language
works of any kind he wishes,
n8
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
uzadi la lingvon por ciaj eblaj
celoj ; kiel spiritaj mastroj de
tiu ci lingvo estos ciam rigar-
dataj tiuj personoj kiuj de la
mondo Esperantista estos kon-
fesataj kiel la plej bonaj kaj
la plej talentaj verkistoj de tiu
ci lingvo.
4. Esperanto havas neniun
personan legdonanton kaj de-
pendas de neniu aparta homo.
Ciuj opinioj kaj verkoj de la
kreinto de Esperanto havas,
simile al la opinioj kaj verkoj
de ciu alia Esperantisto, karak-
teron absolute privatan kaj por
neniu devigan. La sola, unu
fojon por ciam deviga por ciuj
Esperantistoj, fundamento de
la lingvo Esperanto estas la
verketo Fundamento de Esper-
anto, en kiu neniu havas la
raj ton fari sangon. Se iu de-
klinigas de la reguloj kaj mo-
deloj donitaj en la dirita verko,
li neniam povas pravigi sin
per la vortoj "tie! deziras au
konsilas la autoro de Esper-
anto." Ciun ideon, kiu ne
povas esti oportune esprimata
per tiu materialo kiu trovigas
en la Fundamento de Esperanto,
Ciu havas la rajton esprimi en
tia maniero kiun li trovas la
and go on using the language
for any possible object ; from
an intellectual point of view
those persons will always be
regarded as masters of this
language who shall be recog-
nized by the Esperantist world
as the best and most gifted
writers in this language.
4. Esperanto has'no personal
law-giver and depends upon no
particular person. All opinions
and works of the creator of
Esperanto have, like the-
opinions and works of any
other Esperantist, an absolutely
private character, and are bind-
ing upon nobody. The sole
foundation of the Esperanto
language, which is once for all
binding upon all Esperantists,
is the little work Fundamento
de Esperanto, in which no one
has the right to make any
change. If any one departs
from the rules and models given
in the said work, he can never
justify himself with the words
" such is the wish or advice of
the author of Esperanto." In
the case of any idea which can-
not be conveniently expressed
by means of that material which
is contained in the Fundamento
de Esperanto, every Esperantist
ESPERANTO IS FOUNDED ON BEDROCK 119
plej gusta, tiel same kiel estas
farate en ciu alia lingvo. Sed
pro plena unueco de la lingvo,
al ciuj Esperantistoj estas re-
komendate imitadi kiel eble
plej multe tiun stilon kiu tro-
vigas en la verkoj de la kreinto
de Esperanto, kiu la plej multe
laboris por kaj en Esperanto,
kaj la plej bone konas gian
spiriton.
5. Esperantisto estas nomata
ciu persono kiu scias kaj uzas
la lingvon Esperanto, tute egale
por kiaj celoj li gin uzas.
Apartenado al ia aktiva societo
Esperantista por ciu Esperan-
tisto estas rekomendinda, sed
ne deviga.
has the right to express it in
such manner as he considers
most fitting, just as is done in
the case of every other language.
But for the sake of perfect unity
in the language, it is recom-
mended to all Esperantists to
constantly imitate as far as pos-
sible that style which is found
in the works of the creator of
Esperanto, who laboured the
most abundantly for and in
Esperanto, and who is best
acquainted with the spirit of it.
5. The name of Esperantist
is given to every person who
knows and uses the Esperanto
language, no matter for what
ends he uses it. Membership
of some active Esperanto society
is to be recommended for every
Esperantist, but this is not
compulsory.
By the wise provision of Article 4, that the entire grammar and
framework of Esperanto, as contained within one small book of a
few pages, is absolutely unchangeable, the future of the language
is secured. The Fundamento also contains enough root words to
express all ordinary ideas. Henceforth the worst thing that can
happen to Esperanto by way of adulteration is that some authors
may use too many foreign words. The only practical check upon
this, of course, is the penalty of becoming incomprehensible.
But as men are on the whole reasonable, and as the only object
of writing in Esperanto presumably is to appeal to an Esperantist
international public, this check should be sufficient to prevent the
120 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
use of any word that usage is not tending to consecrate. A certain
latitude of expansion must be allowed to every language, to enable
it to move with the times ; but beyond this, surely few would
have any interest in foisting into their discourse words which their
hearers or readers would not be likely to understand, and those
few would probably belong to the class who do the same thing in
using their mother-tongue. No special legislation is needed to
meet their case.
For a few years (1901-1905) the publishing house of Hachette
had the monopoly of official Esperanto publications, and no work
published elsewhere could find place in the " Kolekto Esperanto
aprobita de D°. Zamenhof." But at the first congress Zamenhof
announced that he had given up even this control, and Esperanto
is now a free language.
The official authority, which deals with all matters relating to
the language itself, is the Lingvo, Komitato (Language Committee).
It was instituted at the first congress, and consists of persons
appointed for their special competence in linguistic matters. The
original members numbered ninety-nine, and represented the
following twenty-eight countries : Austria, Belgium, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Canada, Chili, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan,
Mexico, Norway, Persia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
This committee decides upon its own organization and
procedure. In practice it selects from among the points sub-
mitted to it by Esperantists those worthy of consideration, and
propounds them to its members by means of circulars. It then
appoints a competent person or small committee to report upon
the answers received. Decisions are made upon the result of the
voting in the members' replies to the circulars, as analyzed and
tabulated in the report. The functions of the committee do not
include the making of any alteration whatever in the Esperanto part
of the Fundamento de Esperanto, which is equally sacrosanct for it
and for ajl Esperantists, But there is much to be done in correct-
THE WORLD'S WORDY ARREARS 121
ing certain faulty translations of the fundamental Esperanto roots
into national languages, in defining their exact meaning and giving
their authorized equivalent in fresh languages, into which they
were not originally translated. Also the constantly growing
output of grammars and instruction books of all kinds in every
country, to say nothing of dictionaries, which are very important,
has to be carefully watched, in order that errors may be pointed
out and corrected before they have time to take root.
Thus the Lingva Komitato is in no sense an academy or
legislative body, having for object to change or improve the
language; it is the duly constituted and widely representative
authority, which watches the spread and development of the
language, maintaining its purity, and helping with judicious
guidance.
From this sketch it ought to be clear that Esperanto is no
wild-cat scheme of enthusiasts or faddists, but a wisely organized
attempt to wipe out the world's linguistic arrears. Its aim is to
bring progress in oral and written communication into line with
the progress of material means of communication and of science.
VIII
PRESENT STATE OF ESPERANTO : (a) GENERAL J (b) IN ENGLAND
(a) General
THE first question usually asked is, " How many Esperantists are
there ? " The answer is, " Nobody knows." The most diverse
estimates have been made, but none are based on any reliable
method of computation. In the Histoire de la langue universelle,
which appeared in 1903 and is written throughout in an impartial
and scientific spirit, 50,000 was tentatively given as a fairly safe
estimate. That was before the days of the international congresses,
and since then the cause has been advancing by leaps and bounds.
Not a month passes without its crop of new clubs and classes,
and the pace is becoming fast and furious.
122 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
A marked change has been noticeable of late in the press of the
leading countries. It is becoming a rare thing now to see
Esperanto treated as a form of madness, and the days of con-
temptuous silence are passing away. Esperanto doings are now
fairly, fully, and accurately 'reported. The tone of criticism is
sometimes favourable, sometimes patronizing, sometimes hostile ;
but it is generally serious. It is coming to be recognized that
Esperanto is a force to be reckoned with ; it cannot be laughed off.
One or two rivals, indeed, are getting a little noisy. They are
mostly one-man (not to say one-horse) shows, and they do not like
to see Esperanto going ahead like steam. High on the mountain-
side they sit in cold isolation, and gaze over the rich fertile plains
of Esperanto, rapidly becoming populous as the immigrants rush
in and stake out their claims in the fair " no-man's land." * And
it makes them feel bad, these others ! " Jeshurun waxed fat,"
they cry ; " pride goes before a fall, remember Volapiik ! " The
Esperantists remember Volapiik, close their ranks, and sweep on.
Another good criterion besides the press is the sale of books.
Large editions are going off everywhere, especially, it would seem,
in America, where the folk have a habit, once they have struck a
business proposition, of running it for all it is worth. " Let her
go ! give her hell ! " is the word, and " the boys " are just now
getting next to Esperanto to beat the band.
The British Esperanto Association's accounts show a very
steady increase in the sale of literature. Considering that it sells
books at trade prices, that hardly any of them are priced at more
than a few pence, and none above a shilling or two, the sums
realized from sale of books in some months are astonishing, and
represent a large and increasing spread of interest among the
public. Owing to the low prices, the profit on books is of course
not great; but, such as it is, it all goes to help the cause.
The association is now registered as a non-profit-making society
under the law of 1867, with no share capital and no dividends.
As regards official recognition, good progress is being made in
* ' ' Nenies froprajo? Esp. Deklaracio, Art. 3 (see p. 1 1 7).
BAR TO FREE TRADE IN PROFESSORS 123
England (see below) ; but if the language is anywhere adopted
universally in government schools, it will certainly be first in
France. (For an account of the present state of this question,
which is at present before the French Permanent Educational
Commission, see Part I., chap, vi., p. 30). Dr. Zamenhof has
been decorated by the French Government, and Esperanto is
already taught in many French schools. For purposes of education
France is divided into districts, called ressorts d'Acadhnie, within
each of which there is a complete educational ladder from the
primary schools to the university which is the culmination of each.
The official head of an important district is Rector Boirac, head
of the Dijon University. He is one of the most distinguished of
the Esperantists, and is the leading spirit at the congresses and
on the Lingva Komitato. He has done much for Esperanto in
the schools of his district, and under the guidance of men of his
calibre Esperanto is making serious progress in France. (For
lists of university professors favourable to an international language,
see p. 32).
In Germany one of the foremost men of science of his time,
Prof. Ostwald, of Leipzig, is an ardent advocate of the inter-
national language. He recently was lent for a time to Harvard
University, U.S.A., and while there gave a great impetus to the
study of Esperanto. He also spoke in its favour at Aberdeen
last year, on the occasion of the opening of the new University
buildings.
Apropos of the interchange between different countries of
professors and other teachers, which has to some extent been
already tried between America and Germany, it is curious to
note the attitude of Prof. Hermann Diels, Rector of the Berlin
University. He is a great supporter of the extension of this
interchange, which also has the approbation of the Kaiser, who
attended formally the inaugural lecture of one of the American
professors, to mark his approbation. Prof. Diels commented on
the fact that diversity of language was a grave obstacle; but
though he seems before to have been a champion of popularized
124 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Latin, he now declares himself strongly against any artificial
language,* and advocates the use of English, French, and German.
This is a modified form of the old Max Miiller proposal, that all
serious scientific work should be published in one of six lan-
guages. It does not seem a very convincing attitude to take up,
because it ignores the facts: (i) that the actual trend of the
world is the other way — towards inclusion of fresh national
languages among the Kultursprachen^ not towards accentuation
of the predominance of these three; (2) that the increase of
specialization and new studies at universities is leaving less and
less time for mastering several difficult languages merely as means
to other branches of study. Why should everybody have to learn
English, French, and German ?
For the rest, Esperanto is now beginning to take hold in
Germany. The Germans have, as a general rule, open minds for
this kind of problem, and are trained to take objective views in
linguistic matters on the scientific merits of the case. The
reason why they have been somewhat backward hitherto in
the Esperanto movement is no doubt their disappointment at the
failure of Volapiik, which they had done much to promote. But
now that, in spite of this special drawback, the first steps have
been made, and clubs and papers are beginning to spring up
again, everything points to powerful co-operation from Germany
in the future.
In Switzerland progress has been enormous since the Geneva
Congress of 1906. Many clubs and classes are already formed
or in process of formation, and university men are supporting
the movement. In one respect the Swiss are now in the van
of the Esperantist world : they have just started a newspaper,
Esperanto^ the prospectus of which declares that it will no longer
treat the language as an end in itself, or make propaganda; it
will run on the lines of an ordinary weekly, merely using
* Herr Diels quaintly finds that Esperanto has only one gender — the
feminine ! Surely an ultra-Shavian obsession of femininity. It is perhaps some
distinction to out- Shaw Bernard Shaw in any line.
PROGRESS OUTSIDE EUROPE 125
Esperanto as a means, inasmuch as it is the language of the
paper.
The well-known Swiss veteran philosopher Ernst Naville wrote
to the Geneva Congress that for thirty years he had regarded the
introduction of an international language as a necessity, owing
to the advance of civilization, and the day of realization of this
object would be one of the greatest dates of history.
It is impossible to go through all the countries of Europe in
detail. It is probable that the greatest numbers of Esperantists
are still to be found among the Slav peoples. The language first
took root in their midst, and was spread far and wide by a
distinguished group of Slav writers.
Outside Europe, Esperanto is making great strides in the
British Empire, Japan, and America. There are now Esperantist
clubs in various parts of India, New Zealand, Australia, Canada,
in Malta, Singapore, etc. Dr. Pollen, C.I.E., President of the
British Esperanto Association, has just been touring in India, in
the interests of the language. Among many satisfactory results
is the guarantee of handsome sums towards the guarantee fund
of the coming Cambridge Congress by several native rulers,
among others the Mir of Khairpur, the Raja of Lunawada, the
Nawab of Radhanpur, and the Diwan of Palanpur.
In New Zealand, an enterprising pioneer country in many
departments, the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, is favourable.
Not long ago he made a speech advocating the introduction of
Esperanto into the public schools of the colony.
In America big Esperantist societies and classes have sprung
up with amazing rapidity during the last year. Several universities
now hold Esperanto classes ; the Boston Massachusetts Institute
of Technology has more than 100 students in its Esperanto class,
and, among schools, the famous Latin School of Roxbury has
led the way with over fifty pupils under Prof. Lowell. The
press is devoting a large amount of attention ta Esperanto, and
many journals of good standing are favourable. The North
American Review has taken up the language. It printed articles
iz6 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
in December and January by Dr. Zamenhof and Prof. Macloskie
of Princeton, and followed them up by courses of lessons. It
supplies Esperanto literature to its readers at cost price, and
reports that evidences of interest " have been many and multiply
daily."
Among university supporters are Profs. Huntington and Morse
of Harvard, Prof. Viles, Ohio State University, Prof. Borgerhoff,
Western Reserve University, Prof. Macloskie of Princeton, etc.
On the other hand, Prof. Hugo Miinsterberg of Harvard is
attacking Esperanto. His is a good example of the literary
man's uninformed criticism of the universal language project,
because it is based upon an old criticism by a German pro-
fessor (Prof. Hamel) of the defunct Volapiik. Why Esperanto
should be condemned for the sins of Volapiik is not obvious.
One other useful aspect of Esperanto remains to be mentioned
— the establishment of consulships to give linguistic and other
assistance. Many towns have already their Esperanto consuls,
and in a few years there ought to be a haven of refuge for
Esperantists abroad nearly everywhere.
The following list of principal Esperanto organs will give some
idea of the diffusion of the language. The list makes no pretence
of being complete.
Principal general reviews :
Internacia Scienca Revuo.
La Revuo (which enjoys the constant collaboration of Dr.
Zamenhof).
Tra la Mondo. (This review has recently held, by the colla-
boration of its readers, an international inquiry into education
in all countries. The report is appearing in the February number
and following. This is a good example of the sort of interna-
tional work which can be done for and by readers in every corner
of the globe.)
Other organs :
The British Esperantist.
Lingvo Internacia (the doyen of Esperanto journals).
SOME REPRESENTATIVE ORGANS 127
LEsp'erantiste (France).
Germana Esperantisto.
Eho (Germany).
Svisa Espero.
Esperanto (Switzerland).
Juna Esperantisto (Switzerland).
Esperanto (Hungary).
Helpa Lingvo (Denmark).
La Suno Hispana (Spain).
Idealo (Sicily).
La Algera Stelo (Algiers : has recently ceased to appear).
La Belga Sonorilo (Belgium).
Ruslanda Esperantisto (Russia).
Pola Esperantisto (Poland).
Bulgara Esperantisto (Bulgaria).
Lorena Esperantisto.
Esperantisten (Sweden).
Casopis Ceskych Esperantista (Bohemia).
L'Amerika Esperantisto (central American organ, supported
by groups in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle,
Los Angeles).
La Lumo (Montreal).
Antauen Esperantistoj (Peru).
Brazila Revuo Esperantista (Brazil).
La Japana Esperantisto (Japan).
La Pioniro (India).
Espero Katolika.
Foto Revuo.
Soda Revuo.
Unua Pa'so.
Espero Pacifista.
Eksport Jurnalo,
Esperanta Ligilo (for the blind — in Braille).
The New International Revieiu (Oxford) recently presented a four-
page Esperanto supplement to its subscribers for some months.
128 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
(£) Present State of Esperanto in England
The most practical way of spreading Esperanto is to get it
taught in the schools, so it will be best to state first what has
been done so far in this matter.
Esperanto has been officially accepted by the local educational
authorities in London, Liverpool, Manchester, and other pro-
vincial towns ; that is to say, it has been recognized as a subject
to be taught in evening classes, if there is sufficient demand.
At present there are classes under the London County Council
at the following schools : Queen's Road, Dalston (Commercial
Centre) ; Blackheath Road (Commercial Centre) ; Plough Road,
Clapham Junction (Commercial Centre) ; Rutland Street, Mile
End (Commercial Centre) ; Myrdle Street, Commercial Road ;
and Hugh Myddleton School, Clerkenwell. Other classes held
in London are at the Northern Polytechnic, Holloway Road ;
St. Bride's Institute, Bride Lane ; City of London College,
White Street; Co-operative Institute, Plumstead ; Working Men's
College, St. Pancras; Stepney Library, Mile End Road; and a large
class for teachers is held at the Cusack Institute, Moorfields.
At Keighley, Yorks, the Board of Education has recognized
the language as a grant-earning subject. Various local authorities
give facilities, some paying the teacher, others supplying a room.
Among these are Kingston-on-Thames (Technical Institute),
Rochdale, Ipswich (Technical School), Grimsby, etc.
It does not appear that Esperanto is yet taught in any public
elementary school; educational officials, inspectors, etc., have
yet to learn about the language. Many private schools now
teach it, and at least one private girls' school of the best type
teaches it as a regular subject, alongside French and German.
It has been impossible to get any return or figures as to the
extent to which it has penetrated into private and proprietary
schools. The Northern Institute of Languages, perhaps the
most important commercial school in the North of England,
held an Esperanto class with sixty-three students.
GRADUAL AWAKENING OF AUTHORITIES 129
Two large examining bodies — the London Chamber of Com-
merce and the Examination Board of the National Union of
Teachers — have included Esperanto in their subjects for com-
mercial certificates. At the London Chamber of Commerce
examination in May 1906 the candidates were as follows :
Entries. Passes.
Teacher's diploma ... 6 i
Senior 15 15
Junior . . . 109 67
^30 83
There is now a Teachers' Section of the British Esperanto
Association with an Education Committee, which is carrying
on active work in promoting Esperanto in the schools.
At an official reception of French teachers in London last
year by the Board of Education, Mr. Lough, speaking on behalf
of the Board, made a sympathetic reference to Esperanto. The
incident is amusingly told in Esperanto by M. Boirac, Rector
of Dijon University and a noted Esperantist, who was amongst
the French professors. Not understanding English, he was
growing rather sleepy during a long speech, when the word
" Esperanto " gave him a sudden shock. He thought the
English official was poking fun at him, but was relieved to hear
that the allusion had been sympathetic.
At this year's meeting of the Modern Language Society at
Durham, the Warden of Durham University, Dean Kitchin, in
welcoming the society to the town and university, gave con-
siderable prominence in his speech to Esperanto, remarking that,
to judge by its rapid growth and the sanity of its reformed
grammar, one might easily believe that it will win general use.*
Such references in high places illustrate the tendency to admit
* He continued : " To me it seems that Esperanto in vocabulary and
grammar is a miracle of simplicity."
9
130 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
that there may be something in this international language
scheme.
There are now (May 1907) seventy local Esperanto societies in
Great Britain on the list of societies affiliated to the British
Esperanto Association, and often several new ones are formed
in a month. The first were Keighley and London, founded
1902. Seven more were formed in 1903; and since the
beginning of 1906 no less than thirty-six. Besides the members
of these there are a great many learners in classes and individual
Esperantists who belong to no affiliated group. Every month one
reads lists of lectures given in the most diverse places, very often
with the note that a local club or class resulted, or that a large
sale of Esperanto literature took place. Sometimes the immediate
number of converts is surprising : e.g. on April 22, 1907, after
a lecture on Esperanto at the Technical College, Darlington,
seventy-eight students entered their names for a week's course of
lessons to be held in the college three times a day.
There are now Esperanto consuls in the following towns:
Bradford, Chester, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Hull, Hunslet,
Keighley, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Oakworth, Plymouth,
Rhos, Southampton, and St. Helens. Birmingham has within
the last few months taken up the cause with its usual energy,
and now has a large class.
In England the universities have been slow to show interest
in Esperanto ; but now that Cambridge has been selected as the
seat of the Congress in 1907, the university is granting every
facility, as also is the town council, in use of rooms and the like,
and some professors and other members of the university are
cordially co-operating. Last October Prof. Skeat, one of the
fathers of English philology, took the chair at a preliminary
meeting, and made a speech very favourable to Esperanto.
He said, " I think Esperanto is a very good movement, and I
hope it will succeed." The subject of Esperanto is being well
put before the teachers of Cambridgeshire, and the railway
companies all over the country and abroad are granting special
THE VOICE OF HISTORY 131
fares for the congress.* It is probable that the overwhelming
demonstration of the possibilities of this international language
will open the eyes of many who have hitherto been indifferent,
and that the movement will enter on a new phase of expansion in
England, and through the example of England, which is closely
watched abroad, in the world at large.
IX
LESSONS TO BE DRAWN FROM THE FOREGOING HISTORY
THE extent to which more or less artificial languages are already
used in various parts of the world for the transaction of inter-
racial business, and the persistent preoccupation of thinkers with
the idea for the last 200 years, culminating in the production of
a great number of schemes in our own times, show that there is
a demand for an international language, more perfect than has
yet been available and universally valid. The list of languages
proposed (see Part II., chap, ii.) by no means represents all that
has been written and thought upon the subject. Many more have
proposed solutions of the question, beginning with such men as
Becher (1661), Kirchner (1665), Porele (1667), Upperdorf (1679),
Miiller (1681), Lobkowitz (1687), Besuier (1684), Solbrig (1725),
Taboltzafo (1772), and continuing down to the present day. The
striking success of Volapiik and Esperanto in gaining, within a
few years of publication, many thousands of ardent supporters
has also been a revelation. It has proved most conclusively that
there is a demand. If so many people in all lands have been
willing to give up time and money to learning and promoting a
language from which they could not expect to reap anything like
full benefit for many years, what must be its value when ripened
to yield full profits, i.e. when universally adopted ?
* It is a striking fact that six weeks before the opening of the congress
700 members have already secured their tickets.
132 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
There are two main obstacles to universal adoption. The first
is common to all projects of reform — the force of inertia. It is
hard to win practical support for a new thing, even when assent
is freely given in theory to its utility. The second is peculiar to
Esperanto, and consists in the discrediting of the cause of inter-
national language through the failure of Volapiik. Good examples
of its operation are afforded by the slowness of Germany to
recognize Esperanto, and by the criticism of Prof. Miinsterberg
(formerly of Freiburg, Germany) in America, based as it is on an
old German criticism of Volapiik, and transferred at second-hand
to Esperanto.
Hence every effort should be made to induce critics of
Esperanto to examine the language before pronouncing judg-
ment— to criticise the real thing, instead of some bogy of
their imagination.
One bogy which has caused much misdirected criticism is
raised by misunderstanding of the word "universal" in the
phrase universal language. It is necessary to insist upon the
fact that " universal " means universally adopted and everywhere
current as an auxiliary to the mother-tongue for purposes of
international communication. It does not mean a universal
language for home consumption as a substitute for national
language. In Baconian language, this bogy may be called an
" idol of the market-place," since it rests upon confusion of
terms.
Pursuing the Baconian classification of error, we may call the
literary man's nightmare of the invasion of literature by the uni-
versal language an " idol of the theatre." The lesson of experience
is, that it is well not to alienate the powerful literary interest justly
concerned in upholding the dignity and purity of national speech
by making extravagant claims on behalf of the auxiliary language.
It is capable of conveying matter or content in any department of
human activity with great nicety ; but where it is a question of
reproducing by actual translation the form or manner of some
masterpiece of national literature, it will not, by nature of its very
THE WRITING ON THE WALL 133
virtues, give a full idea of the rich play of varied synonymic in the
original.
The great practical lesson of Volapuk is, that alteration brings
dissension, and dissension brings death. A universal language
must be in essentials, like Esperanto, inviolable. If ever the
time comes for modification in any essential point, it will be after
official international recognition in the schools. Gradual reforms
could then, if necessary, be introduced by authority, as in the case
of the recent French " Tolerations," or the German reforms in
orthography.
So long as the world is divided among rival great powers, no
national language can be recognized as universal by them all. It
is therefore a choice between an artificial language or nothing.
As regards the structure of the artificial language itself, history
shows clearly that it must be a posteriori, not a priori. It must
select its constituent roots and its spoken sounds on the principle
of maximum of internationality, and its grammar must be a
simplification of natural existing grammar. On the other hand,
a recent tendency to brand as "arbitrary " and a priori everything
that makes for regularity, if it is not directly borrowed, is to be
resisted. It is possible to overdo even the best of rules by slavish
and unintelligent application. Thus it is urged by extremists that
some of the neatest labour-saving devices of Esperanto are arbitrary,
and therefore to be condemned.
Take the Esperanto suffix -in-, which denotes the feminine.
„ „ „ prefix mal- „ „ „ opposite.
„ „ „ suffix -tg- „ „ causative action.
Given the roots bov- (ox) ; fort- (strong) ; grand- (big) :
Esperanto forms bovino (cow) ; malforta (weak) ; grandigi (to
augment) ; malgrandigi (to diminish).
These words are arbitrary, because not borrowed from national
language. Let the public decide for itself whether it prefers a
language which insists (in order not to be "arbitrary") upon
borrowing fresh roots to express these ideas. Let any one who
has learnt Latin, French, and German try how long it takes him
134 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
to think of the masculine of vacca, vache, Kuh ; the opposite of
fortis, fort, stark ; the Latin, French, and German ways of
expressing " to make big " and " to make small." The issue
is hardly doubtful.
Again, the languages upon whose vocabulary and grammar the
international language is to be based must be Aryan (Indo-
European). This is a practical point. The non-European
peoples will consent to learn " simplified Aryan " just as they
are adopting Aryan civilization; but the converse is not true.
The Europeans will go without an international language rather
than learn one based to some extent upon Japanese or Mongolian.
The only prescription for securing a large field is — greatest ease
for greatest number, with a handicap in favour of Europeans, to
induce them to enter.
PART III
THE CLAIMS OF ESPERANTO TO BE TAKEN SERI-
OUSLY : CONSIDERATIONS BASED ON THE
STRUCTURE OF THE LANGUAGE ITSELF
ESPERANTO IS SCIENTIFICALLY CONSTRUCTED, AND FULFILS THE
NATURAL TENDENCY IN EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
ALL national languages are full of redundant and overlapping
grammatical devices for expressing what could be equally well
expressed by a single uniform device. They bristle with
irregularities and exceptions. Their forms and phrases are
largely the result of chance and partial survival, arbitrary usage,
and false analogy. It is obvious that a perfectly regular artificial
language is far easier to learn. But the point to be insisted
on here is, that artificial simplification of language is no fantastic
craze, but merely a perfect realization of a natural tendency,
which the history of language shows to exist.
At first sight this may seem to conflict with what was said
in Part I., chap. x. But there is no real inconsistency. As
pointed out there, there is no reason to think that Nature, left
to herself, would ever produce a universal language, or that
a simpler language would win, in a struggle with more complex
ones, on account of its simplicity. But this does not prevent
there being a real natural tendency to simplification — though
in natural languages this tendency is constantly thwarted, and
can never produce its full effect.
How, then, is this tendency to simplification shown in the
136
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
history of Aryan (Indo-European) languages ? For it must
be emphasized that for the purposes of this discussion history
of language means history of Aryan language.
The Aryan group of languages includes Sanskrit and its
descendants in the East, Greek, Latin, all modern Romance
languages (French, Italian, Spanish, etc.), all Germanic lan-
guages (English, German, Scandinavian, etc.), all Slav languages
(Russian, Polish, etc.) — in fact, all the principal languages of
Europe, except Hungarian, Basque, and Finnish. The main
tendency of this group of languages has been, technically
speaking, to become analytic instead of synthetic — that is, to
abandon complex systems of inflection by means of case and
verbal endings, and to substitute prepositions and auxiliaries.
Thus, taking Latin as the type of old synthetic Aryan language,
its declension of nouns and conjugation of verbs present an
enormously greater complexity of forms than are employed by
English, the most advanced of the modern analytical languages,
to express the same grammatical relations. For example :
Nom. mensa = a table.
Ace. mensam = a table.
Gen. mensae = of a table.
Dat. mensae =
Abl.
mensa
to or for a
table,
by, with, or
from a table.
mensae
= tables.
mensas
= tables.
mensarum
= of tables.
mensis
= to or for tables.
menss
(1
= I by, with, or from
tables.
By the time you have learnt these various Latin case endings
(-a, -at/i, -ae, -ae, -a \ -ae, -as, -arum, -is, -is), you have only
learnt one out of many types of declension. Passing on to the
second Latin type or declension, e.g. dominus = master, you have
to learn a whole fresh set of case endings (-us, -urn, -/, -o, -o ;
-/, -os, -orum, -is, -is) to express the same grammatical relations ;
whereas in English you apply the same set of prepositions to
the word " master " without change, except for a uniform, -s in
the plural. As there are a great many types of Latin noun,
PROGRESS REFLECTED IN LANGUAGE 137
the simplification in English, effected by using invariable
prepositions without inflection, is very great. It is just the
same with the verb. Take the English regular verb "to love":
the four forms love, loves, loving, loved, about exhaust the number
of forms to be learned (omitting the second person singular,
which is practically dead) ; the rest is done by auxiliaries, which
are the same for each verb. Latin, on the other hand, possesses
very numerous forms of the verb, and the whole set of numerous
forms varies for each type of verb. In the aggregate the simpli-
fication in English is enormous. This process of simplification
is common to all the modern Aryan languages, but they have
not all made equal progress in carrying it out.
Now, it is a remarkable fact, and a very suggestive one for
those who seek to trace the connexion between the course of
a nation's language and its history, that the degree of progress
made by the languages of Europe along their common line
of evolution does on the whole, as a matter of historical fact,
correspond with the respective degree of material, social, and
economic advancement attained by the nations that use them.
Take this question of case endings. Russia has retained a high
degree of inflection in her language, having seven cases with
distinct endings. These seven cases are common to the Slav
languages in general ; two of them (Sorbish and Slovenish) have,
like Gothic and Greek, a dual number, a feature which has long
passed away from the languages of Western Europe. Again,
the Slav tongues decline many more of the numerals than most
Aryan languages. Germany, which, until the recent formation
of the German Empire, was undoubtedly a century slow by West
European time, still has four cases ; or, in view of the moribund
dative, should we rather say three and a half? France and
England manage their affairs in a universal nominative * (if one
can give any name to a universal case), as far as nouns, adjectives,
* Though historically, of course, the Low Latin universal case, from
which many French, and therefore English, words are derived, was the
accusative.
138 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
and articles are concerned. Their pronouns offer the sole
survival of declension by case endings. Here France, the
runner-up, is a trifle slow in the possession of a real, live dative
case of the pronoun (ace. le, la, les ; dat. lui, leur). England
wins by a neck with one universal oblique case (him, her, them).
This insidious suggestion is not meant to endanger the entente
cordiale ; even perfidious Albion would not convict the French
nation of arrested development on the side-issue of pronominal
atavism. Mark Twain says he paid double for a German dog,
because he bought it in the dative case ; but no nation need be
damned for a dative. We have no use for the coup de Jarnac.
But consider the article. Here, if anywhere, is a test of
the power of a language to move with the times. For some
reason or other (the real underlying causes of these changes
in language needs are obscure) modern life has need of the
article, though the highly civilized Romans did very well without
it. So strong is this need that, in the middle ages, when Latin
was used as an international language by the learned, a definite
article (hie or TO) was foisted into the language. How is it with
the modern world ? The Slavs have remained in this matter
at the point of view of the ancient world. They are articleless.
Germany has a cumbrous three-gender, four-case article ; France
rejoices in a two-gender, one-case article with a distinct form
for the plural. The ripe product of tendency, the infant heir
of the eloquent ages, to whose birth the law of Aryan evolution
groaned and travailed until but now, the most useful, if not the
"mightiest," monosyllable "ever moulded by the lips of man," the
" the," one and indeclinable, was born in the Anglo-Saxon mouth,
and sublimed to its unique simplicity by Anglo-Saxon progress.
The general law of progress in language could be illustrated
equally well from the history of genders as exhibited in various
languages. We are here only dealing with Aryan languages, but,
merely by way of illustration, it may be mentioned that a primi-
tive African language offers seven " genders," or grammatical
categories requiring the same kind of concords as genders. In
THE SLIM BOER LEADS 139
Europe we pass westward from the three genders of Germany,
curving through feminine and masculine France {place aux
dames /) to monogendric Britain. Only linguistic arbitrary gender
is here referred to ; this has nothing to do with suffragettes or
" defeminization."
Again, take agreement of adjectives. In the ancient world,
whether Greek, Latin, Gothic, or Anglo-Saxon, adjectives had to
follow nouns through all the mazes of case and number inflection,
and had also to agree in gender. In this matter German has
gone ahead of French, in that its adjectives do not submit to
change of form in order to indicate agreement, when they are
used predicatively (e.g. " ein guter Mann " ; " der gut<? Mann " ;
but " der Mann ist gut "). But English has distanced the field,
and was alone in at the death of the old concords, which
moistened our childhood's dry Latin with tears.
Whatever test be applied, the common tendency towards
simplification, from synthesis to analysis, is there; and in its
every manifestation English has gone farthest among the great
literary languages. It is necessary to add this qualification —
" among the great literary languages " — because, in this process
of simplification, English has a very curious rival, and possibly a
superior, in the Taal of South Africa. The curious thing is that
a local dialect should have shown itself so progressive, seeing
that the distinctive note of most dialects is conservatism, their
chief characteristics being local survivals.* It is probable that
the advanced degree of simplification attained by the Taal is the
result of deliberate and conscious adaptation of their language by
the original settlers to the needs of the natives. Just as English-
men speak Pidgin-English to coolies in the East, so the old
trekkers must have removed irregularities and concords from their
* Of course a difference must be expected between a dialect spoken by a
miscellaneous set of settlers in a foreign land and one in use as an indigenous
growth from father to son. But the habitants, as the French settlers in
Quebec are called, who, like the Boers, are mainly a pastoral and primitive
people, have retained an antiquated form of French, with no simplification.
i4o INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Dutch, so that the Kaffirs could understand it. If this is so, it is
another illustration of the essential feature that an international
language must possess. Even the Boer farmers, under the stress
of practical necessity, grasped the need of simplification.
The natural tendency towards elimination of exceptions is also
strongly marked in the speech of the uneducated. Miss Loane,
who has had life-long experience of nursing work among the
poorest classes in England, tabulates (The Queen's Poor, p. 112)
the points in which at the present day the language of the poor
differs from that of the middle and upper classes. Under the
heading of grammar she singles out specially superabundance of
negatives, and then proceeds : " Other grammatical errors. These
are nearly all on the lines of simplification. It is correct to say
' myself, herself, yourself, ourselves.' Very well : let us complete
the list with 'hisself and ' theirselves.' Most verbs are regular:
why not all ? Let us say ' corned ' and ' goed,' ' seed ' and
' bringed ' and ' teached.' " Miss Loane probably exaggerates with
her " nearly all." For instance, as regards the uneducated form
of the past tense of " to come," surely " come " is a commoner
form than " corned." Similarly the illiterate for " I did " is " I
done," not " I doed," which would be the regular simplification.
But the natural tendency is certainly there, and it is strong.
Precisely the same tendency is observable in the present
development of literary languages. They have all inherited many
irregular verbal conjugations from the past as part of their
national property, and these, by the nature of the case, comprise
most of the commonest words in the language, because the most
used is the most subject to abbreviation and modification. But
these irregular types of inflection have long been dead, in the
sense that they are fossilized survivals, incapable of propagating
their kind. When a new word is admitted into the language, it is
conjugated regularly. Thus, though we still say " I go — I went ;
I run — I ran," because we cannot help ourselves, when we are
free to choose we say, "I cycle — I cycled ; I wire — I wired"; just
as the French say "telegraphier," and not " telegraphir," -oir, or -re.
WHY NOT SIMPLIFY? i&
Considering the strength of this stream of natural tendency, it
seems a most natural thing to start again, for international pur-
poses, with a form of simplified Aryan language, and, being free
from the dead hand of the past, to set up the simplest forms of
conjugation, etc., and make every word in the language conform
to them.
Indeed, this question of artificial simplification of language has
of late years emerged from the scholar's study and become a
matter of practical politics, even as regards the leading national
languages. Within the last few years there have been official
edicts in France and Germany, embodying reforms either in
spelling or grammar, with the sole object of simplifying. The
latest attempt at linguistic jerrymandering has been the somewhat
autocratic document of President Roosevelt. He has found that
there are limits to what the American people will stand even from
him, and it seems likely to remain a dead letter. But there is
not the smallest doubt that the English language is heavily
handicapped by its eccentric vowel pronunciation and its spelling
that has failed to keep pace with the development of the language.
The same is true, though in a lesser degree, of the spelling and
pronunciation of French. Since the whole theory of spelling —
and, until a few hundred years ago, its practice too — consisted in
nothing else but an attempt to represent simply and accurately
the spoken word, most unprejudiced people would admit that
simplification is in principle advisable. But the practical diffi-
culties in the way of simplification of a national language are
almost prohibitive. It is hard to see that there are any such
obstacles in the way of the adoption of a simple and perfectly
phonetic international artificial language. We dislike change
because it is change, and new things because they are new. We
go on suffering from a movable Easter, which most practically
inconveniences great numbers of people and interests, and seems
to benefit no one at all, simply because it is no one's business to
change it. If once the public could be got to examine seriously
the case for an artificial international language, they could hardly
142 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
fail to recognize what an easy, simple, and natural thing it is,
and how soon it would pay off all capital sunk in its universal
adoption, and be pure profit.
NOTE
This seems the best place to deal with a criticism of Esperanto
which has an air of plausibility. It is urged that Esperanto does
not carry the process of simplification far enough, and that in
two important points it shows a retrograde tendency to revert
to a more primitive stage of language, already left behind by the
most advanced natural languages. These points are :
(1) The possession of an accusative case.
(2) The agreement of adjectives.
Now, it must be borne in mind that the business of a universal
language is, not to adhere pedantically to any philological theory,
not to make a fetish of principle, not to strive after any theoretical
perfection in the observance of certain laws of construction,
but — simply to be easy. The principle of simplification is an
admirable one, because it furthers this end, and for this reason
only. The moment it ceases to do so, it must give way before
a higher canon, which demands that an international language
shall offer the greatest ease, combined with efficiency, for the
greatest number. The fact that a scientific study of language
reveals a strong natural tendency towards simplification, and
that this tendency has in certain languages assumed certain
forms, is not in itself a proof that an artificial language is bound
to follow the historical lines of evolution in every detail. It
will follow them just so far as, and no farther than, they conduce
to its paramount end — greatest ease for greatest number, plus
maximum of efficiency. In constructing an international language,
the question then becomes, in each case that comes up for
decision : How far does the proposed simplification conduce to
ease without sacrificing efficiency? Does the cost of retention
(reckoned in terms of sacrifice of ease) of the unsimplified form
TWO CRITICISMS ANSWERED 143
outweigh the advantages (reckoned in terms of efficiency) it
confers, and which would be lost if it was simplified out of
existence ? Let us then examine briefly the two points criticised,
remembering that the main function of the argument from
history of language is, not to deduce therefrom hard-and-fast
rules for the construction of international language, but to remove
the unreasoning prejudice of numerous objectors, who cannot
pardon the international language for being "artificial," i.e.
consciously simplified.
(i) The Accusative Case
This is formed in Esperanto by adding the letter -n. This one
form is universal for nouns, adjectives, and pronouns singular
and plural. Ex. :
Nom. bona patro (good father), plural, bonaj patroj.
Ace. bonan patron „ bonajn patrojn.
Suppose one were to suppress this -n.
(a) Cost of retention of unsimplified form : Remembering to
add this -n.
(b] Advantages of retention : The flexibility of the language is
enormously increased ; the words can be put in any order without
obscuring or changing the sense. Ex. :
La patro amas sian filon = the father loves his son.
Sian filon amas la patro (in English "his son loves the
father " has a different sense).
Amas la patro sian filon ( = the father loves his son, but . . .).
La patro sian filon amas.
Sian filon la patro amas (= it is his son that the father loves).
In every case the Esperanto sentence is perfectly clear, the
meaning is the same, but great scope is afforded for emphasis
and shades of gradation. Further, every nation is enabled to \
arrange the words as suits it best, without becoming less in-
telligible to other nations. Readers of Greek and Latin know
the enormous advantage of free word order. For purposes of
144 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
rendering the spirit and swing of national works of literature in
Esperanto, and for facilitating the writing of verse, the accusative
is a priceless boon. Is the price too high ?
N.B. — Those people who are most apt to omit the -n of the
accusative, having no accusative in their own language, generally
make their meaning perfectly clear without it, because they are
accustomed to indicate the objective case by the order in which
they place their words. They make a mistake of Esperanto by
omitting the -n, but they are understood, which is the essential.
(2) The Agreement of Adjectives
Adjectives in Esperanto agree with their substantives in
number and case. Ex. : bona patro, bonan patron, bonaj patroj,
bonajn patrojn.
Suppose one were to suppress agreement of adjectives.
(a) Cost of retention of agreement : Remembering to add
-j for the plural and -n for the accusative.
(b) Advantages of retention : Greater clearness ; conformity
with the usage of the majority of languages ; euphony.
Esperanto has wisely adopted full, vocalic, syllabic endings for
words. Contrast Esp. bon-o with French bon, Eng. good, Germ.
gut. By this means Esperanto is not only rendered slower, more
harmonious, and easier of comprehension ; it is also able to
denote the parts of speech clearly to eye and ear by their form.
Thus final -o bespeaks a noun ; -a, an adjective ; -e, an adverb ;
-/, an infinitive, etc.
Now, since all adjectives end in syllabic -a, it is much harder
to keep them uninflected than if they ended with a consonant
like the Eng. " good." To talk about bona patroj would not
only seem a hideous barbarism to all Latin peoples, whose
languages Esperanto most resembles, but it would also offend
the bulk of Northerners. After a very little practice it is really
/'easier to say bonaj patroj than bona patroj. The assimilation of
termination tempts the ear and tongue.
SEQUENCE OF LANGUAGES 145
The grammar is also simplified. For if adjectives agreeing
with nouns and pronouns expressed were invariable, it would
probably be necessary to introduce special rules to meet the
case of adjectives standing as nouns, or where the qualified word
was suppressed.
Again, is the price too high compared to the advantages ?
II
ESPERANTO FROM AN EDUCATIONAL POINT OF VIEW — IT WILL
AID THE LEARNING OF OTHER LANGUAGES AND STIMULATE
INTELLIGENCE
(i) ESPERANTO takes a natural place at the beginning of the
sequence of languages, upon which is founded the scheme of
language-teaching in the Reform Schools of Germany, and in some
of the more progressive English schools.
The principle involved in this scheme is that of orderly pro-
gression from the easier to the more difficult. Only one foreign
language is begun at a time. The easiest language in the school
curriculum is begun first. Enough hours per week are devoted
to this language to allow of decent progress being made. When
the pupils have a fair grip of the elements of one language,
another is begun. The bulk of the school language-teaching
hours are now devoted to the new language, and sufficient weekly
hours are given to the language already learnt to avoid back-
sliding at least. Thus in a German school of the new type the
linguistic hours are devoted in the lowest classes to the mother-
tongue. When the pupils have some idea what language means,
and have acquired some notion of grammar, they are given a
school year or two of French. After this Latin is begun in the
upper part of the school, and Greek at a corresponding interval
after Latin.
Now, it is one of the commonest complaints of teachers in our
secondary schools that they have to begin teaching Latin or
10
146 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
French to boys who have no knowledge whatever of grammar.
Fancy the hopelessness of trying to teach an English boy the
construction of a Latin or French sentence when he does not
know what a relative or demonstrative pronoun means ! This is
the fate of so many a master that quite a number of them resign
themselves to giving up a good part of their French or Latin
hour to endeavouring to imbue their flock with some notions of
grammar in general. They naturally try to appeal to their boys
through the medium of their own language. But those who have
incautiously upset their class from the frying-pan of qui, quae,
quod, into the fire of English demonstrative and relative pronouns
get a foretaste of the fire that dieth not. Facilis descensus Averni.
Happy if they do not lose heart, and step downward from the
fire to ashes — reinforced with sackcloth.
" I contend that that ' that ' that that gentleman said was right."
This is the " abstract and brief chronicle " of their woes — some-
times, indeed, the epitaph of their pedagogical career, if they are
too sickened of the Sisiphean task of trying to teach grammar
on insufficient basis. And this use, or abuse, of the hardworked
word " that " is only an extreme case which illustrates the difficulty
of teaching grammar to babes, through the medium of a language
honeycombed with synonyms, homonyms, exceptions, and other
pitfalls (can you be honeycombed with a pitfall?) — a language
which seems to take a perverse delight in breaking all its own
rules and generally scoring off the beginner. And for the dull
beginner, what language does not seem to conform to this type ?
Answer : Esperanto.
In other words, it would seem that, for the grinding of grammar
and the advancement of sound learning in the initial stage, there
is nothing like an absolutely uniform and regular language,* a
* Cf. Sir Oliver Lodge : " It would certainly appear that for this purpose
[i.e. educative language-learning for children] the fully inflected ancient
languages are best and most satisfactory ; if they were still more complete and
regular, like Esperanto, they would be better still to begin with " (School
Teaching and School Reform, p. 21 : chapter on Curricula and Methods).
BEGIN WITH THE REGULAR 147
type tongue, something that corresponds in the linguistic hierarchy
to Euclid or the first rules of arithmetic in the mathematical,
something clear, consistent, self-evident, and of universal
application.
Take our sentence again : " I contend that that 'that 'that that
gentleman said was right." If our beginner has imbibed his first
notions of grammar through the medium of a type language, in
which a noun is always a noun, and is stamped as such by its
form (this, by the way, is an enormous aid in making the
thing clear to children) ; in which an adjective is always an
adjective, and is stamped as such by its form ; land so on through
all the other parts of speech, — when the teacher comes to analyse
the sentence given, he will be able to explain it by reference to
the known forms of the regular key-language. He will point out
that of the " thats " : the first is the Esperanto ke (which is final,
because ke never means anything else) ; the second is tiu (at
once revealed by its form to be a demonstrative), the fourth kiu,
and so on. As for the third " that," which is rather hard for a
child to grasp, he will be able to make it into a noun in form by
merely adding -o to the Esperanto equivalent for any "that"
required. He will not be doing violence to the language; for
Esperanto consists of roots, which habitually do duty as noun,
verb, adjective, etc., according to the termination added. Those
who know the value of the concrete and tangible in dealing with
children will grasp the significance of the new possibilities that are
thus for the first time opened up to language-teachers.
To sum up : Natural languages are all hard, and the beginner
can never go far enough to get a rule fixed soundly in his mind
without meeting exceptions which puzzle and confuse him.
Esperanto is as clear, logical, and consistent as arithmetic, and,
like arithmetic, depends more upon intelligence than upon
memory work. If Esperanto were adopted as the first foreign
language to be taught in schools, and all grammatical teaching
were postponed until Esperanto had been begun, and then given
entirely through the medium of Esperanto until a sound notion of
148 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
grammatical rules and categories had been instilled, it would
probably be found that the subsequent task of learning natural
languages would be facilitated and abridged. From the very start
it would be possible to prevent certain common errors and
confusions, that tend to become engrained in juvenile minds by
the fluctuating or contradictory usage of their own language, to
their great let and hindrance in the subsequent stages of language-
learning. The skeleton outline of grammatical theory with
concrete examples afforded by Esperanto would shield against
vitiating initial mistakes, in much the same way as the use of a
scientific phonetic alphabet, when a foreign language is presented
for the first time to the English beginner in written form, shields
him against carrying over his native mixed vowel system to
languages which use the same letters as English, but give quite a
different value to them. In both cases * the essentials of the new
instrument of learning are the same — that it be of universal
application, that it be sufficiently different from the mother-tongue
or alphabet to prevent confusion by association of ideas, that each
of the new forms or letters convey only one idea or sound
respectively, and that this idea or sound be always and only
conveyed by that form or letter.
(2) From a psychological point of view Esperanto would be a
rewarding subject of study for children.
The above remarks on sequence of languages show that, by
placing Esperanto first in the language curriculum, justice is done
to the psychological maxim : from the easier to the harder, from
the regular to the exceptional. It may further be argued (a) that
Esperanto is educative in the real sense of the word, i.e. suitable
for drawing out and developing the reasoning powers ; (ti) that it
would act as a stimulus, and by its ease set a higher standard of
attainment in language-learning.
(a) Amidst all the discussion of " educationists " about
methods, curricula, sequence of studies, and the rest, one
* i.e. scientific regular type grammar and scientific regular phonetic
alphabet.
ESPERANTO EDUCATIVE IN REAL SENSE 149
fundamental fact continues to face the teacher when he gets down
to business ; and that is, that he has got to make the taught
think for themselves. In proportion as his teaching makes them
contribute their share of effort will it be fruitful. This is, of
course, the merest truism, sometimes dignified in the current
pedagogical slang by the name of " self-activity," or the like. But
whatever new bottles the theorists, and their extreme left wing
the faddists, may choose to serve up our old wine in, the fact is
there : children have got to be made to use their own brains.
The eternal question that faces the teacher is, how to provide
problems that children really can work out by using their own
brains. The trouble about history, geography, English literature,
and such subjects is that the subject-matter of the problems they
offer for solution lies beyond the experience of the young, and to
a large extent beyond their reasoning powers. In teaching all
such subjects there is accordingly the perpetual danger that the
real work done may degenerate into mere memory work, or
parrot-like cramming of notes or dates.
The same difficulty is encountered in science teaching.
Heuristic methods have been devised to meet the difficulty.
Though they are no doubt psychologically sound, they tend to be
very slow in results ; hence the common jibe that a boy may
learn as much by them in five years as he could learn out of a
a shilling text-book in a term.
The old argument that " mental gymnastics " are best supplied
by Latin is sound to the extent that Latin really does furnish a
perpetual series of small problems that have to be solved by the
aid of grammar and dictionary, but which do involve real mental
effort, since mere mechanical looking out of words does not suffice
for their elucidation. But for various reasons, such as the
remoteness of the ancient world in time, place, modes of thought,
etc., Latin tends to be too hard and not interesting enough for the
average boy. He gets discouraged, and develops a habit of only
working enough to keep out of trouble with the school authorities,
and is apt to leave school with an unintelligent attitude towards
150 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
intellectual things in general. This is the result of early drudging
at a subject in which progress is very slow, and which by its nature
is uncongenial. The great desideratum is a linguistic subject
which shall at once inculcate a feeling for language (German
Sprachgefiiht), and yet be easy enough to admit of rapid progress.
Nothing keeps alive the quickening zest that makes learning
fruitful like the consciousness of making rapid progress.
Hitherto arithmetic and Euclid have been the ideal subjects for
providing the kind of problem required — one that can be worked
out with certainty by the aid of rule and use of brain, without
calling for knowledge or experience that the child cannot have.
The facts are self-evident, and follow from principles, without
involving any extraneous acquaintance with life or literature,
and no deadening memory work is required. If only there were
some analogous subject on the literary side, to give a general
grip of principles, uncomplicated by any arbitrary element, what
a boon it would be ! and what a sound preparation for real and
more advanced linguistic study for those who showed aptitude
for this line ! Arithmetic and Euclid both really depend upon
common sense ; but partly owing to their abstract nature, and
partly because they are always classed as " mathematics," they
seem to contain something repellent to many literary or linguistic
types of mind.
With the invention of a perfectly regular and logically con-
structed language, a concrete embodiment of the chief principles
of language structure, we have offered us for the first time the
hitherto missing linguistic equivalent of arithmetic or Euclid.
In a regular language, just ^because everything goes by rule,
problems can be set and worked out analogous to sums in
arithmetic and riders in Euclid. Given the necessary roots and
rules, the learner can manufacture the necessary vocabulary and
produce the answer with the same logical inevitability; and he
has to use his brains to apply his rules, instead of merely copying
words out of a dictionary, or depending upon his memory for
them.
FORMATION OF FEELING FOR LANGUAGE 151
In this way all that part of language-study which tends to be
dead weight in teaching the young is got rid of in one fell swoop,
and this though the language taught and learnt is a highly
developed instrument for reading, writing, speaking, and literary
expression. This dead weight includes most of the unintelligent
memorizing, all exceptions, all complicated systems of declension
and conjugation, all irregular comparison of adjectives and
adverbs, all syntactical subtleties (cf. the sequence of tenses,
oratio obliqua, the syntax of subordinate clauses, in Latin ; and
the famous conditional sentences, with the no less notorious
ov and /*>/ in Greek), all conflicting and illogical uses of auxiliaries
(cf. tore and avoir in French, and sein and haben in German),
besides a host of other old enemies. Some of these things of
course are not wholly memory work, especially the syntax, which
involves a real feeling for language. But these would be much
better postponed until one easy foreign language has been learnt
thoroughly. Every multilinguist knows that each foreign language
is easier to learn than the last. With a perfectly regular artificial
language you can make so much progress in a short time that
you can use it freely for practical purposes. Yet it does not come
of itself, like the mother-tongue. This free manipulation of a
consciously acquired language is the very best training for forming
a feeling for language — far better than weary stumbling over the
baby stages of a hard language. When you can read, write, and
speak one very easy artificial language, which you have had to
learn as a foreign one, then is the time when you can profitably
tackle the difficulties of natural language, appreciating the niceties
of syntax, and realizing, by comparison with your normal key-
language, in what points natural languages are merely arbitrary
and have to be learnt by heart. Those who have early conquered
the grammar and syntax of any foreign language, but have had to
put in years of hard (largely memory) work before they could
write or speak, e.g., Latin Latin, French French, or German
German, will realize the saving effected, when they are told that
Esperanto has no idiom, no arbitrary usage, The combination of
152 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
words is not governed, as in natural languages, by tradition
(which tradition has to be assimilated in the sweat of the brow),
but is free, the only limits being common sense, common grammar,
and lucidity.
To those who do not know Esperanto it may seem a dark
saying that language riders can be worked out in the same way as
geometrical ones. To understand this some knowledge of the
language is necessary (for sample problems see Appendix A,
p. 200). But for the sake of making the argument intelligible
it may here be stated that one of the labour-saving, vocabulary-
saving devices of Esperanto is the employment of a number of
suffixes with fixed meaning, that can be added to any root. Thus :
The suffix -ej- denotes place.
„ „ -/'/- ,, instrument.
„ „ -ig- „ causation.
Final -o denotes a noun.
Given this and the root san- (cf. Lat. sanus), containing the idea
of health, form words for " to heal " (san-ig-i = to cause to be
well) ; " medicine " (san-ig-il-o = instrument of healing) ;
" hospital " (san-ig-ej-o = place of healing), etc.
This is merely an example. The combinations and permutations
are infinite ; they give a healthy knowledge of word-building, and
can be used in putting whole pages of carefully prepared idiomatic
English into Esperanto. Practical experience shows that, given
the necessary crude roots, the necessary suffixes, and a one-page
grammar of the Esperanto language, an intelligent person can
produce in Esperanto a translation of a page of idiomatic English,
not Ollendorfian phrases, without having learnt Esperanto.
(b] Experience also shows that the intelligent one thoroughly
enjoys himself while doing so ; and having done so, experiences
a thrill of exhilaration almost amounting to awe at having made
a better translation into a language he has never learnt than he
could make into a national language that he has learnt for years,
e.g. Latin, French, or German.
THE ESSENCE OF TRUE STYLE 153
And what is exhilaration in the dry tree may be sustained
working keenness in the green. The stimulus to the young
mind of progress swift and sure is immense. A child who has
learnt to read, write, and speak Esperanto in six months, as is
very possible within the natural limits of power of expression
imposed by his age, not only has a sound working knowledge of
grammatical categories and forms, which will stand him in good
stead in subsequent language-learning ; he has also a quite
different attitude of mind — une tout autre mentality to use
recent jargon — towards foreign languages. His only experience
of learning one has been that he did so with the object and result
of being able to read, write, and speak it within a reasonable
time. " By so much the greater and more resounding the slump
into actuality," you will say, " when he comes to grapple with his
next." Perhaps. But even so, the habit of acquiring fresh words
and forms for immediate use must surely tell — not to mention
that he will incidentally have acquired a very useful Romance
vocabulary, and a wholly admirable French lucidity of construction.
(3) And this question of lucidity brings us to the third great
educational advantage of Esperanto. Its opponents — without
having ever learnt it to see — have urged that its preciseness
will debauch the literary sense. Surely the exact opposite is the
fact. Le style c'est Fhomme, and the essence of true style is that a
man should give accurate expression to his thoughts. The French
wit, satirizing vapid fine writing, said that language was given to
man to enable him to conceal his thought. There is no more
potent instrument for obscuring or concealing thought than the
ready-made phrase. Take up many a piece of journalese or
other slipshod writing, and note how often the conventional
phrase or word slips from under the pen, meaning nothing in
particular. The very conventionality disguises from writer and
reader the confusion or absolute lack of idea it serves to cloak.
Both are lulled by the familiar sound of the set phrase or word
and glide easily over them. On the other hand, in using a
language in which you construct a good deal of your vocabulary
154 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
according to logical rule tout en marchant^ it is impossible to avoid
thinking, at each moment, exactly what you do mean. Where
there is no idiom, no arbitrary usage, no ready-made phrase,
there is also far less danger of yielding to a fatal facility.
Take an instance or two. In the Prayer Book occurs the
phrase " Fulfil, O Lord, our desires and petitions." At Sunday
lunch a mixed party of people, after attending morning service,
were asked how they would render into Esperanto the word
"desires." They nearly all plumped for dezirajo. Now, the
Esperanto root for "desire" is dezir-. By adding -o it becomes
a noun = the act of desiring, a desire. By adding the suffix -a),
and then -o, it becomes concrete = a desire- (i.e. desired-) thing,
a desire. A reference to the dictionary showed that the English
word " desire " has both these meanings, but none of these people
had a sufficiently accurate idea of the use of language to realize
this. It was only when a gentleman passed his plate for a second
helping of beef, and was asked which he expected to be fulfilled —
the beef, or his aspiration for beef — that he, under the stimulus
of hunger, adopted the rendering dezir-o, thereby saving at once
his bacon and his additional beef.
It is not of course necessary for people to define pedantically
to themselves the meaning of every word they use, but surely it
must conduce to clear thinking to use a language in which you
are perpetually called upon, if you are writing seriously, to make
just the mental effort necessary to think what you do mean.
Again, consider the use of prepositions. This is, in nearly all
national languages, extremely fluctuating and arbitrary. Take a
few English phrases showing the use of the prepositions " at " and
" with." " At seven o'clock " ; " at any price " ; " at all times " ;
" at the worst " ; " let it go at that " ; "I should say at a guess,"
etc. " Come with me " ; " write with a pen " ; " he came with a
rush " ; " things are different with us " ; " with a twinkle in his
eye " ; " with God all things are possible," etc. Try to turn these
phrases into any language you think you know; the odds are that you
will find yourself " up against it pretty badly." The fact is, that
TRAINING IN CLEAR THOUGHT 155
prepositions are very frequently used on no logical plan, not at all
according to any fixed or universal meaning ; all that can be said
about them in a given phrase is that they are used there because
they are used. To remember their equivalents in other languages
hard memory work and much phrase-learning is necessary. In
Esperanto all that is necessary is : first, to become clear as to the
exact meaning ; secondly, to pick the preposition that conveys it.
There is no doubt, as the Esperanto prepositions are fixed in
sense, on the " one word one meaning " plan. The point is, that
there is no memory searching, often so utterly vain, for there are
few people indeed who can write a few pages of the most familiar
foreign languages without getting their prepositions all wrong,
and having " foreigner " stamped large all across their efforts. In
Esperanto, provided you have a clear mind and know your
grammar, you are right. No arbitrary usage defeats your efforts
and makes discouraging jargon of your literary attempts.
This training in clear thought, the first requisite for all good
writing, is surely sound practical pedagogics. By the time you
can give up conscious word-building in Esperanto, and use words
and phrases by rote, y9U have done enough bracing thinking to
teach you caution in the use of the ready-made phrase and horror
of the vague word.
Fools make phrases, and wise men shun them. Here is a
phrase-free language : need we shun it ?
Ill
(a) WORD-BUILDING
THE following tables are meant to give some idea of the number
and variety of different ideas that can be expressed by a single
Esperanto root, with the addition of affixes (prefixes and suffixes).
By reading the English, French, and German columns downwards,
156
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Affix
Esperanto
English
French
German
san-a
healthy
bien portant
gesund
mal- (opposite)
mal-san-a
ill
malade
krank
ne (not)
-ig (causative)
ne-san-a
san-ig-i
unwell
to heal
(un peu) souf-
frant
gue"rir
unwohl
heilen
san-ig-a
salutary
salutaire
heilsam
re- (again)
re-san-ig-a
restorative
restaurant
wiederherstel-
lend
-ig (becoming)
san-ig-i
to b6 conval-
escent
etre conval-
escent
sich erholen
-ig
re-san-ig-a
getting well
again
en train de se
retablir
genesend
-ig
mal-san-ig-a
sickening
(transitive)
ecoeurant
(qui rend
malade)
ekelhaft
(krank
machend)
mal-san-ig-a
sickening
(intransitive)
languissant
siechend
-ist (agent)
san-ig-ist-o
doctor
me'decin
Arzt
-ej (place)
san-ig-ej-o
hospital
hopital
Krankenhaus
-ul (character-
istic)
mal-san-ul-o
invalid
un malade
ein Kranker
-ebl
(possibility)
(mal)-san-ig-
ebl-a
(in)curable
(in)curabie
(un)heilbar
-ar (collective)
mal - san - ul -
ar-o
hospital in-
mates
ensemble des
malades
Gesamtheit der
Kranken
(both sexes)
ge-mal-san-ul-
ar-o
all the men
and women
patients
les malades
hommes
et femmes
die Kranken
beider Ge-
schlechter
-in (feminine)
san-ig-ist-in-o
a lady doctor
un medecin
femme
Arztin
-edz (married)
san-ig-ist-edz
in-o
a doctor's
wife
une femme de
medecin
Frau des Arztes
EXAMPLES OF LABOUR-SAVING
157
Affix
Esperanto
English
French '
German
lern-i
to learn
apprendre
lernen
ig (causative)
lern-ig-i
to teach
enseigner
lehren
lern-ig-a
educative
educateur
erzieherisch
ej (place)
lernej-o
school
ecole
Schule
ant (pres. part.)
lern-ant-o
pupil
e*leve
Schiller
;e- (of both
sexes)
ge-lern-ant-oj
pupils of both
sexes
eleves des
deux sexes
Schiiler and
Schiilerinnen
ar (collective)
lern-ant-ar-o
class
classe
Klasse
an
(appertaining)
lern-ej-an-o
schoolboy
ecolier
Schulknabe
in (feminine)
lern - ej-an -
schoolgirl
ecoliere
Schulmadchen
in-o
estr (chief)
lern-ej-estr-o
headmaster
proviseur
Direktor
•ist (agent)
lern-ej-ist-o
schoolmaster
instituteur
(professeur)
Lehrer
lern-ej-ist-in-o
school-
institutrice
Lehrerin
mistress
I
-aj (concrete)
lern-aj-o
subject
(learnt-stuff)
matiere d'en-
seignement
Lehrstoff
lern-aj-ar-o
curriculum
ensemble des
matieres
(Studien)-
Laufbahn
d'enseigne-
Schulprogramm
ment
-em
(inclination)
lern-em-a
studious
applique"
Meissig
mal- (opposite)
mal-lern-em-a
idle
paresseux
faul
-ig (causative)
lern-em-ig-i
to stimulate
mettre en
train
anregen
lern-ig-o
instruction
(act)
instruction
das Unter-
richten
lern-ig-aj-o
instruction
(teaching
given)
enseignement
Unterricht
158 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
the reader will see how many different roots and periphrases
these languages employ in order to express the same ideas.
As the affixes have fixed meanings, they only have to be
learnt once for all, and many of them (e.g. -tst, -in, re-) are
already familiar. When once acquired, they can be used in
unending permutation and combination with different roots and
each other. The tables below are by no means exhaustive of
what can be done with the roots san- and lern-. They are merely
illustrative. By referring to the full table of affixes on pp. 191-2,
the reader can go on forming new compounds ad libitum : e.g.
san-o, san-a, san-e, san-i, saneco, sanilo, sanulo, malsane, malsani,
saneti, malsaneti, sanadi, eksani, eksanigi, saninda, sanindi,
sanindulo, sanajo, sanajero, sanilo, sanigilo, sanigilejo, sanigilujo,
sanigilisto, malsanemeco, remalsano, remalsanigo, sanila, mal-
sanulino, sanistinedzo, sanijingo, sanigestro, sanigestrino, sanigema,
sanega, sanigega, gesanantoj, sanigontoj, sanigistido, sanigejano
. . . and so on (kaj tiel plu).
(b) PARTICIPLES AND AUXILIARIES
The following table (see p. 160) illustrates the perfect simplicity
and terseness of the Esperanto verb.
Every tense, active and passive, is formed with never more
than two words. Every shade of meaning (continued, potential,
etc., action) is expressed by these two words, of which one is
the single auxiliary esti (itself conjugated regularly). The double
auxiliary — "to be "and "to have"— which infests most modern
languages, with all its train of confusing and often illogical dis-
tinctions (cf. French je suis altt, but fai couru), disappears.
Contrast the simplicity of amota with the cumbersome periphrasis
about to be loved", or the perfect ease and clearness of vi estus amita
with the treble-barrelled German Sie wiirden geliebt warden sein.
This simplicity of the Esperanto verb is entirely due to its
full participial system. There are six participles, present, past,
and future active and passive, each complete in one word. The
THE ESPERANTO VERB A MASTERPIECE 159
only natural Aryan language (of those commonly studied) that
compares with Esperanto in this respect is Greek ; and it is
precisely the fulness of the Greek participial system that lends to
the language a great part of that flexibility which all ages have
agreed in admiring in it pre-eminently. Take a page of Plato or
any other Greek author, and count the number of participles
and note their use. They will be found more numerous and
more delicately effective than in other languages. Esperanto can
do all this ; and it can do it without any of the complexity of
form and irregularity that makes the learning of Greek verbs
such a hard task. Bearing in mind the three characteristic
vowels of the three tenses — present -a, past -z, future -o (common
to finite tenses and participles) — the proverbial schoolboy, and
the dullest at that, could hardly make the learning of the
Esperanto participles last him half an hour.
It would be easy to go on filling page after page with the
simplifications effected by Esperanto, but these will not fail to
strike the learner after a very brief acquaintance with the
language. But attention ought to be drawn to one more
particularly clever device — the form of asking questions. An
Esperanto statement is converted into a question without any
inversion of subject and verb or any change at all, except the
addition of the interrogative particle Zu. In this Esperanto
agrees with Japanese. But whereas Japanese adds its particle ka
at the end of the sentence, the Esperanto cu stands first in its
clause. Thus when, speaking Esperanto, you wish to ask a
question, you begin by shouting out cu, an admirably distinctive
monosyllable which cannot be confused with any other word in
the language. By this means you get your interlocutor prepared
and attending, and you can then frame your question at leisure.
Contrast Esperanto and English in the ease with which they
respectively convert a statement into a question.
English : You went — did you go ?
Esperanto : Vi iris— cu vi iris ?
160 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
German
I
xi '~
cu cu
X!
en
G
13
S
s:
X)
en
G
CU
X>
cu
x>
'cu
bfl
tu
X!
X!
bfl
G
13
G
cu
X)
N
X)
13
bD
CU
bfl
N
S c
•~ cu
C
cu
X)
o3
X!
X)
'cu
bfl
G
CU
;-,
X5
13
bfl
G
CU
•2
C
cu
-H
0
X)
_U
bO
fl
a!
X!
X)
cu
13
bfl
•O
i-
CU
13
E
O
x)
cu
"cu
bfl
G
fortgegangen
irden fortgegangen
CU
o
bfl -x!
15
bfl
be
bfi
XI
3
en
t-i rO
as >-.
CU
BE
cu
55
>
:i -g
en
• ^
C
53
CU
cu cu
cu
-o
•3
cu
X!
O
GO
>H
cu
CU
'e7>
IH
cu
CO
'en
X!
_CJ
.22 m
>H
cu
'en
'3
E
-cu
en
-cu
|
'3
en
XL)
'rt
French
imant
»-.
cu
G
.G 'o3
4-> £
G ^
>; o
xu
g
'3
G
1
'3
"G
'1
• I—*
rt
cu
"3
rt
cu
'j3
-cu
.g
cu
03
en
3
O
C
03
S
'3
en
cu
<~* CU
1
^ 2
cu 13
ous aurons airr
en
-CU
.g
'3
en
cu
<"£
en
O
-<u
.g
03
-cu
C
0
tn
aurais aime .
MU
-cu
M
1
en
3
o
'rt
en
CU
C
"en
s s'en seraient
o3
o3 13
-cu
^""^
13
•i— .
>
"*
13
c
W
•>— >
^
.T3
13
«
-o
cu
T3
cu
<u
O
cu
13
U
cu
O
>
X!
bfl
"
jD
cu
3
^
•
G
^O
CU
^
CU
1
bD
£ 2
bD
G 13
'> 0
c3 X)
XI 03
bfl
C
'C
X!
cu
X)
bfl
'>
cu
0
a
0
X?
03
cu
CU
03
XI
1— 1
CU
03
XI
3
O
bfl
_G
'>
en
0)
X!
bfl
'5
X)
en
CU
X!
en
CU
XI
XI
en
CU
cu
CU
3
o
cu
cu
X)
cu
OJ
XI
cu
XJ
cu
X!
2
3
0
XI
en
t— t
i
XI
2
3
O 13
3 ^-i
O
CU
c
a
en
03
CU
o3
XI
1
XJ
|
as
03
5
'F
"oP
14,
3
03
'o?
C
S"
c
"G
,_j
*3
c
"o3
+3
.-§
_G
"S
2
03
§
as
TO
§
03
03
g
'g
OS
rt
'g
r3
03
S
03
'C
^
u
CX o3
03 d
en
rt
en
en
o3
en
en
0
ol
en
en
3
en
3
en
en
3
^ §
i
-1 1
1 1
C3
03
1
O
g
en
CU
en
CU
en
CU
en
CU
en
CU
en
CU
tn
CU
en
cu
en
CU
o3
en
CU
en
cu
o3
G
t>
S
<cn
'S
!>
I"3
>
'^
rG
MINIMUM OF MEMORIZING 161
This particle may be considered the equivalent of the initial
mark of interrogation used in Spanish, and serves to remove all
complications in connexion with word order.
This chapter on labour-saving may fitly conclude with an
estimate of the amount of mere memorizing work to be done
in Esperanto. Since this is almost nil for grammar, syntax,
and idiom, and since there are no irregularities or exceptions,
the memory work is, broadly speaking, reduced to learning the
affixes, the table of correlatives, and a certain number of new
roots. This number is astonishingly small. Here is an estimate
made by Prof. Macloskie, of Princeton, U.S.A. :
Number of roots new to an English boy without Latin, about 600*
» » » » » with „ „ 300
„ „ „ a college teacher . . . 100
IV
HOW ESPERANTO CAN BE USED AS A CODE LANGUAGE TO
COMMUNICATE WITH PERSONS WHO HAVE NEVER LEARNT IT
TECHNICALLY speaking, Esperanto combines the characteristics
of an inflected language with those of an agglutinative one. This
means that the syllables used as inflexions (-0, -a, -e, -as, -is,
-as, -ant-, -int-, -ont-, etc.), being invariable and of universal
application, can also be regarded as separate words. And as
separate words they all figure in the dictionary, under their
initial letters. Thus anything written in Esperanto can be
deciphered by the simple process of looking out words and parts
of words in the dictionary. For examples, see pieces i and 2 in
the specimens of Esperanto, pp. 167-8, and read the Note at the
beginning of Part IV. As the Esperanto dictionary only consists
* i.e. about one-third of the whole number in the Fundamento.
II
162 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
of a few pages, it can be easily carried in the pocket-book or
waistcoat pocket.
Thus, while to the educated person of Aryan speech Esperanto
presents the natural appearance of an ordinary inflected language,
one who belongs by speech to another lingual family, or any
one who has never heard of Esperanto, can regard every inflected
word as a compound of invariable elements. By turning over
very few pages he can determine the meaning and use of each
element, and therefore, by putting them together, he can arrive
at the sense of the compound word. e.g. lav'isfirio. Look
out lav-, and you find " wash " ; look out -ist, and you find
it expresses the person who does an action ; look out -in, and
you find it expresses the feminine ; look out -<?, and you find
it denotes a noun. Put the whole together, and you get " female
who does washing, laundress."
Suppose you are going on an ocean voyage, and you expect
to be shut up for weeks in a ship with persons of many
nationalities. You take with you keys to Esperanto, price
one halfpenny each, in various languages. You wish to tackle
a Russian. Write your Esperanto sentence clearly and put the
paper in his hand. At the same time hand him a Russian
key to Esperanto, pointing to the following paragraph (in Russian)
on the outside :
" Everything written in the international language can be
translated by the help of this vocabulary. If several words
together express but a single idea, they are written in one word,
but separated by apostrophes ; e.g. fratin'o, though a single idea,
is yet composed of three words, which must be looked for
separately in the vocabulary."
After he has got over his shock of surprise, your Russian,
if a man of ordinary education, will make out your sentence
in a very short time by using the key.
As an example Dr. Zamenhof gives the following sentence:
'Mi ne sci'as kie mi las'is la baston'o'n: cu vi gi'n ne vid'is?"
With the vocabulary this sentence will work out as follows :
ESPERANTO DECIPHERABLE AS A CODE 163
Mi mi = I I
ne ne = not not
<ww /^ = know )
sa as i • e r do know
(as = sign of present tense )
kie kie = where where
mi mi = I I
, , . (las — leave )
(is - sign of past tense
/a /a = the the
{baston = stick "j
0 = sign of a noun I stick
« = sign of objective case J
cu "cu = whether, sign of question whether
vi vi = you you
#'* (& ~ Jt
l« = sign of objective case
»<? ne = not not
(vid=* see ) .
tw - sign of past tense I haveSeen?
It is obvious that no natural language can be used in the same
way as a code to be deciphered with a small key.
French
I
not
step
where
the
reed:
not
you
step
German
Ich
I
je
weiss
white
ne
nicht
not
sais
wo
where
pas
ich
I
0*
den
?
fat
Stock
stick
laisst
gelassen
dispassionate
la
habe :
property :
canne
haben
to have
ne
Sie
she, they, you,
ravez
ihn
?
vous
nicht
not
pas
gesehen
?
vu?
1 64 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
If your Russian wishes to reply, hand him a Russian-
Esperanto vocabulary, pointing to the following paragraph on
the outside :
" To express anything by means of this vocabulary, in the
international language, look for the words required in the
vocabulary itself; and for the terminations necessary to distin-
guish the grammatical forms, look in the grammatical appendix,
under the respective headings of the parts of speech which you
desire to express."
The whole of the grammatical structure is explained in a few
lines in this appendix, so the grammar can be looked out as
easily as the root words.
PART IV
SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO, WITH GRAMMAR AND
VOCABULARY
NOTE
THE best way of learning Esperanto is to begin at once to
read the language. Do not trouble to learn the grammar and
list of suffixes by themselves first. All this can be picked
up easily in the course of reading.
In the following specimens the first two pieces are marked
for beginners. Each part of a word marked off by hyphens
is to be looked out separately in the vocabulary. By the
time the beginner has read these two pieces carefully in this
way he will know the grammar, and have a fair idea of the
structure of the language and the use of affixes.
In order to save time in looking out words, and so quicken
the process of learning, the English translation of the third
piece is given in parallel columns. Therefore in this piece
only the principal words, which might be unfamiliar to English
readers, are given in the vocabulary. Word-formation and some
points of grammar are explained in the notes.
To get a practical grasp of Esperanto, cover the left-hand
(Esperanto) column with a piece of paper after reading it, and
re-translate the English into Esperanto, using the notes. After
half an hour per day of such exercise for two or three weeks,
an ordinary educated person will know Esperanto pretty well.
N.B. — It is very important to acquire a correct pronunciation
at the start. Study the pronunciation rules, and practise
reading aloud before beginning to translate. Read slmvly.
165
166 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
I
PRONUNCIATION
Vowels
THERE are no long and short, open and closed, vowels : just
five simple, full-sounding vowels, always pronounced the same.
English people must be particularly careful to make them
sufficiently full.
a as a in Engl. "father."
e » W » » "they."
* „ ee „ „ "eel."
o „ o „ „ " hole," inclining to o in Engl. "more." (English
speakers find it hard to pronounce a true <?.)
u „ oo „ „ "moon."
In short, the vowels are as in Italian.
Diphthongs
aj as eye in Engl. "eye."
oj „ oy „ „ "boy."
au „ ow „ „ "cow."
(eu „ e...w „ „ " g£t a/et " : this sound does not often occur.)
Consonants
These are pronounced as in English, except the following :
c as is in Engl. " bits."
c » ch „ „ "church."
g » g »» .» "give."
g » g » „ "gentle."
h „ ch „ Scotch " loch," or German " ich."
J „ y „ Engl. " yes."
j „ s „ „ "pleasure."
s „ sh „ „ " shilling."
ii „ w „ ,, " cow " (only occurs in the diphthongs au and eu).
PAROLADO 167
Accent
Always upon the last syllable but one.
Example
The first few lines of piece i in the following specimens may
be thus figured for English readers :
Gayseenyoroy — mee noon deeros ahl vee kaylkine vdrtoyn
Ayspayrahntay. Mee kraydahs kay vee 6wdos, kay Ayspayrahnto
aystahs tray fahtseelah ki bayls6nah le"engvo.
N.B. — The precise sound of e is between a in "bale" and c
in " bell"
II
SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO
i. PAROL-AD-O
GE-SINJOR-O-J — mi nun dir-os al vi kelk-a-j-n vort-o-j n Esperant-e.
Mi kred-as ke vi aud-os, ke Esperant-o est-as tre facil-a kaj
bel-son-a lingv-o. Ver-e, gi est-as tiel facil-a, sonor-a kaj simpl-a,
ke oni tut-e ne hav-as mal-facil-ec-o-n por lern-i gi-n. La
lern-ant-o-j pov-as ordinar-e kompren-i, leg-i, skrib-i kaj parol-i
gin en tre mal-long-a temp-o. La fakt-o ke Esperant-o en-hav-as
tre mal-mult-a-j-n, vokal-a-j-n son-o-j-n, kaj ke la vokal-o-j est-as
ciu-j long-a-j kaj plen-son-a-j, est-ig-as gin mult-e pli facil-a ol la
ali-a-j lingv-o-j, cu por attd-i, cu por el-parol-i.
Mi kred-as ke mal-long-a lern-ad-o est-os sufic-a por vi-n
kompren-ig-i, ke la hom-o-j de ciu-j naci-o-j pov-as inter-parol-i
Esperant-e sen mal-facil-ec-o.
Mi ne de-ten-os vi-n pli long-e. Fin-ant-e, mi las-os kun vi
du fraz-et-o-j-n : unu-e, por la ideal-ist-o-j, kiu-j cel-as unu
frat-ec-o-n inter la popol-o-j de ciu land-o, la Esperant-a-n
deviz-o-n — " Dum ni spir-as ni esper-as " : du-e, por la hom-o-j
praktik-a-j la praktik-a-n konsil-o-n — " Lern-u Esperant-o-n."
1 68 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
2. LA MAR-BORD-IST-O-J : ALEGORI-ET-O
Cirkau grand-a mez-ter-a mar-o viv-is mult-a-j popol-o-j. Hi
hav-is mult-a-n inter-a-n komerc-o-n. Oar la mar-o est-is oft-e
mal-trankvil-a kaj ili hav-is nur mal-grand-a-j-n sip-o-j-n, ili vetur-is
lau-long-e la mar-bord-o, neniam perd-ant-e la ter-o-n el la vid-o.
Cert-a hom-o el-pens-is sip-o-n, kiu ir-is per vapor-o. Li dir-is
al la mar-bord-ist-o-j : "Jen, ni met-u ni-a-n mon-o-n kun-e, kaj
ni konstru-u grand-a-j-n vapor-sip-o-j-n. Tiel ni vetur-os rekt-e
trans la mar-o unu al ali-a-n; kaj ni far-os pli da komerc-o en
mal-pli da temp-o." Sed la mar-bord-ist-o-j pli-am-is cirkau-ir-i
en mal-grand-a-j sip-o-j, kiel ili kutim-is. La el-pens-int-o ne
hav-is sufic-e da mon-o por konstru-i grand-a-n vapor-sip-o-n, kiu
tre mult-e en-hav-os kaj tre rapid-e vojag-os ; tial li dev-is vetur-ad-i
en si-a mez-grand-a vapor-sip-o, kiu tamen almenau rekt-e ir-is
cie-n. Sed la mar-bord-ist-o-j daur-ig-is rem-i kaj vel-i cirkau-e.
3. NESAGA GENTO : AN UNWISE* RACE:
ALEGORIO AN ALLEGORY
Malproksime, en nekonata Far 2 away, in an unknown 3
lando,vivissovagagento. Ililo- land, there lived a savage race,
gisenlamezodevastaebenajo, They dwelt in the midst of a
izolata de la ekstera mondo. vast plain,4 cut off from the outer 8
Unuflanken homo dek tagojn world. Towards one side 6 a man
1 Unwise. Wise = saga ; ne = not.
2 Far. Near = proksim-e (e = adverbial ending). To be near = proksimi.
Mai- is a prefix denoting the opposite.
3 Unknown. To know = koni. Pres. part. pass. -at-. Negative = ne.
(bona = good ; malbona = bad ; nebona = not good. )
4 Plain. Flat = eben-a. a} is a suffix denoting something made from or
possessing the quality of.
5 Outer. Outside (preposition) = ekster. a denotes an adjective.
6 Towards one side. Side «* flank-o. e denotes an adverb ; flanke =
" sidely," i.e. at the side. » denotes motion towards.
NESAGA GENTO
169
vojagante venus al montegaro :
aliflanke staris granda lago
kaj senlimaj marcoj. Tiel oni
vivadis trankvile lau patra
kutimo, tute senzorga pri la
ago kaj faro de aliaj hom-
gentoj transmontanaj. En
somero estis varmege, kaj ciu
vintro sajnis pli malvarma ol
la antaua ; sed la tero estis
fruktodona, gi donis al ili
sufice da greno por mangi, kaj
la riveroj kaj riveretoj plene
provizis puran trinkajon.
Tiel ili vivadis ne malfelice,
kaj ilia vivo estis la vivo de
la prapatroj, car ili ne sciis
kiel gin plibonigi. Sed man-
journeying 1 ten days 2 would
come to a big mountain-range 3 ;
on the other side stood a great
lake and boundless 4 swamps.
Thus 5 they lived 6 quietly after
the manner of their fathers, caring
nothing7 for the way of life8 of
other men beyond the hills. In
summer it was very hot,9 and
every winter seemed colder than
the last ; but the earth was fertile,
it gave them enough corn 10 to
eat, and the streams and rivers
furnished abundance of pure
water to drink.11
Thus they lived not unhappily,
and their life was the life of
their forefathers, for they knew
not how to better13 it. But in their
1 Journeying. This participial phrase qualifies the verb, venus, like an
adverb. In Esperanto the participle therefore takes an e, which denotes an
adverb.
2 Ten days, i.e. for the duration of ten days. Duration of time is put in
the accusative case.
* Big mountain-range. Mountain = mont-o. eg is a suffix denoting bigness ;
ar is a suffix denoting a collection.
4 Boundless. Limit = lim-o. Without = sen.
s Thus. See p. 193 for correlatives.
" They lived. To live =« viv-i. ad is a suffix denoting continued action.
7 Caring nothing. Care =- zorg-o. Sen — without, a denotes an adjective.
8 Way of life. Lit. the acting and doing.
' It was very hot. In such impersonal uses of the adjective, the adverbial
form is used.
'• Enough corn, da is used after words of quantity. Sufitan grtno* would
also be right.
11 Water to drink. Lit. drink -stuff, or drink-thing.
12 Better. Good — bon-a ; better —pli bona ; suf. -fg is causative.
170
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
kis en ilia lando unu ajo, kaj
pro tiu ci manko ili multe
suferis : en la tuta lando
ceestis nenia sirmilo, cu kon-
trau la suno en somero, cu
por forteni la vintrajn ventojn.
Ciuflanke la tero estis plata ;
kaj kvankam la greno kaj
ciuspecaj legomoj kreskis
bone, arboj estis nekonataj.
EC la malproksima montaro
staris tutnuda ; kaj kiam la
ventoj blovis forte el giaj
negoj, la mizeruloj tremetis
pro malvarmeco, kaj ne povis
ec en siaj dometoj komfortigi,
car la penetranta enfluo de
malvarma aero stele eniris gis
la familian kamenon.
Nu okazis ke certa knabo,
pensema preter siaj jaroj,
land one thing1 was lacking, and
for2 lack of this they suffered
greatly : there was 3 no shelter 4
in all the land, whether against
the sun in summer, or to keep
off5 the winter winds. On every
side the ground was flat ; and
although corn and all kinds of 6
vegetables grew well, trees were
unknown. Even the distant
mountains stood all bare ; and
when the winds blew strong from
amidst their 7 snows, the poor folk
shivered for cold, and could not
get comfortable8 even in their
cottages, for the penetrating
draught of the cold air crept 9
right in to the family fireside.
Now, it happened that a certain
boy, thoughtful 10 beyond his years,
1 One thing. The concrete suffix -a) by itself may be used to express
" thing." Of course it takes the substantival ending o.
2 For lack. Esperanto is absolutely precise in the use of prepositions
according to sense. No idiom. In this it differs from all other languages.
Here " for* " means " by reason of."
* There was. Est-i = to be ; ie = at ; teesti = to be present.
4 Shelter. To shelter = sirm-i ; il is a suffix expressing instrument.
5 Keep off. To hold = ten-i ; away = for.
6 All kinds of. Kind = spec-o ; all = tiu. a is adj ectival ending.
7 Their snows. Whose snows ? The mountains'. Therefore giaj, referring
to montaro. If " their " referred to " winds," it would be siaj.
* Get comfortable. Comfort(able) - komfort-o (a); suf. ig denotes
becoming.
* Crept in. To steal =- "Stel-i; -e makes it an adverb.
10 Thoughtful. To think = pens-i ; suf. -em denotes propensity.
NESAGA GENTO
171
komencis pripensi tiun ci
mizeran staton. Li vivis kun
sia vidvina patrino, kiu havis
du infanetojn krom Namezo
(tiel nomigis la knabo). Hi
estis tre malricaj, kaj devis
sencese labori por nutri sin
mem kaj la infanojn. La
vidvino ne havis pli ol kvardek
jarojn, sed Namezo rimarkis
ke vespere, post la taga laboro,
si sajnis tute lacega, kaj
kelkajn jarojn post la morto
de sia edzo si ekmaljunigis.
Ofte la knabo diris al si, ke si
devus pli ripozi, sed ciumatene
post la nokto si havis mienon
tiel same lacegan kiel vespere ;
kaj si plendis ke la trablovaj
ventoj suferigis sin nokte
per reumatismaj doloroj, kaj
somere si ne povis dormi pro
varmeco. Tiam la knabo
turnis la okulojn ekster sia
began to think over this wretched
state of things. He lived with
his1 widowed mother, who had
two little children besides Namezo
(this was the lad's name 2). They
were very poor, and were obliged
to work hard without stopping to
get food for themselves and the
children. The widow was not
more than forty, but Namezo
noticed that of an evening, after
the day's work, she seemed quite
tired out,3 and a few years * after
her husband's death she grew old
all at once.5 Often the boy told
her she ought to take more rest,
but every morning6 she had the
same worn-out look as in the
evening ; and she complained
that the winds blowing through
of a night plagued7 her with8
rheumatic pains, and in summer
she could not sleep because of
the heat. Then the boy turned
1 With his widowed mother, i.e. his own = sia.
2 This was his name. To name = nom-i ; with suf. -ig = to get named,
to be called. •
* Tired out. Tired «- lac-a ; suf. -eg denotes intensity.
4 A few years. Accusative of time.
* She grew old all at once. Young =jun-a ; old = maljuna ; suf. •/£
denotes becoming ; prefix ek- denotes beginning, or sudden action.
' Every morning = tiumatene. " The whole morning " would be la tutan
matenon.
7 Plagued. To suffer = sujer-i ; suf. -ig is causative ; suferigi = to cause to
suffer.
8 With . . . pains. Think of the sense. " With " =- by means of.
172
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
hejmo kaj rigardis cirkauen.
Li vidis ke ciuflanke estis tiel
same : la geviroj frue mal-
junigis kaj multe suferis. Li
pensis, " Baldau estos al mi
ankau simile ; la juneco estas
mallonga kaj labora, kaj la
vivo estas longa kaj cagrena."
Fine li malgajadis.
Vintro forpasis, somero al-
venis. Unu nokton la knabo
estis kusanta en sia lito : li
estis laboreginta en la kampoj,
kaj estis tre laca, sed ju pli li
penis ekdormi,des pli liobstine
vekigadis. La tutan fajran
tagon la suno estis malsupren
brilinta sur la tegmenton de
la dometo, tiel ke la kusejo
nun similis fornon. Namezo
pensis kaj turnigis, returnigis
kaj repensis ; la samaj pensoj,
ciam ronde revenantaj, igis
turmento. Fine li ekdormetis,
his eyes outwards from his home
and looked around him. He saw
that on every side it was the
same l : men and women 2 grew
old early and suffered much. He
thought, "Soon it will be the
same with me ; youth 3 is short
and full of work, and life is long
and full of trouble." At last he
became gloomy altogether.4
Winter passed away, summer
came on. One night the boy
was lying in his bed : he had
been working hard 5 in the fields,
and was very tired, but the more
he tried to go to sleep 6 the wider
awake he grew. All through the
long fiery day the sun had been
beating down 7 on the roof of the
cottage, so that the sleeping-
place 8 was now like an oven.
Namezo thought and tossed,
tossed and thought again ; the
same thoughts, always coming
round in a circle, became 9 a
1 It was the same. Impersonal : use the adverbial form in -e.
2 Men and women. Pref. ge- denotes both sexes.
* Youth. Young =jun-a ; suf. -ec denotes abstract.
4 Became gloomy altogether. Gay = gaj-a ; gloomy = malgaja ; suf. -ad
denotes continuance.
4 He had been working hard. Pluperfect, lit. he was having worked.
Suf. -eg denotes intensity.
6 To go to sleep. To sleep = dorm-i ; pref. ek- denotes beginning.
7 Down. Above = supr-e ; below = malsupre ', n denotes motion.
8 Sleeping-place. To lie = ku's-i ; suf. -ej denotes place.
9 Became. Suf. -ig denotes becoming ; here used as a separate verb.
NESAGA GENTO
'73
sed la konfuzigaj pensoj, ciam
la pensoj, ruladis ec en lia
dormo senkompate tra lia
cerbo.
Subite ekfalis sur lin granda
paco. Li sajnis stari sur
monta pinto. Laceco kaj
zorgo ne estis plu. Cirkaue
vasta soleco. Li kaj la monto
— krom tio ekzistis nenio, kaj
li estis kontenta.
Al li, tiel lukse enspiranta
la fresan aeron, alvenis fluge
blanka birdo. Gi aperis, li
ne sciis kiel, el la cirkauanta
soleco, kaj metigis apud li
sur la montan pinton. Gi
komencis paroli, kaj en lia
songo tio ci neniel lin sur-
prizis.
" Homa knabo," diris la
torture. At length he fell into
a light sleep,1 but the distracting J
thoughts, always the thoughts,
kept rolling3 through his brain
pitilessly, even in his sleep.
All at once a great peace fell
upon him. He seemed to be
standing on a mountain-peak.
Weariness4 and care were no
more. Around vast solitude.
He and the mountain — there was
nought else, and he was glad.
While he thus breathed in the
fresh air with delight, a white bird
came flying.6 It appeared, he
knew not how, out of the sur-
rounding solitude,6 and came and
perched7 beside him on the
mountain-top. It began to speak,
and in his dream this8 in no
way 9 astonished him.
" Mortal10 boy," said the bird,
1 Fell into a light sleep. To sleep = dorm-i ; suf. -et denotes light sleep ;
pref. ek- denotes beginning.
2 Distracting. Confused = konfuz-a ; suf. -ig denotes causation, confusion-
causing.
8 Kept rolling. To roll = rul-i ; suf. -ad denotes continuance.
4 Weariness. Tired = lac-a ; suf. -ec denotes abstract.
6 Came flying. To fly =fiug-i\ root fiug- with adverbial ending -* «*
flyingly.
8 Solitude. Alone = sol-a ; suf. -ec denotes abstract.
7 Came and perched. The idea of motion is conveyed by the accusative
(-«) pinton.
* This. Use neuter form in -ot because it stands alone. " This dream "
= tiu ti songo,
8 In no way. See table of correlatives, p. 193.
10 Mortal. Man — hom-o ; ending -a makes it an adj.
174
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
birdo, faligante en Han manon
semon el sia beko, "prenu
tiun ci semon : metu gin en la
teron : prizorgu gin, flegu gin,
kaj flegadu gin. Post tempo
plenigota levigos el tiu ci semo
kreskajo tia, kian la viaj gis
nun ne vidis. La aliaj homoj
nomas gin arbon. Gi estos
granda ; kaj en la venontaj
jaroj, se oni deve gin flegos,
naskigos el gi arbaroj, kiuj
estos sirmilo por la homaro,
kaj por multaj aliaj celoj
utilos. Sed flegi gin oni
devos, car sen homa penado
nenio al homoj prosperas."
Namezo volis respondi, sed
dum li levis la manon por
rigardi la semon, estis al li
kvazau li turnigis, la kapo mal-
supren : la monto malaperis,
kaj li falis . . . falis . . . falis. . . .
Tiam li estis denove veka
en la forna dometo, sed li
dropping1 a seed into his hand
from its beak, " take this seed :
put it in the ground : care for it,
tend it, and keep tending it. In
the fulness of time there will rise 2
from this seed such 4 a growth *
as * your people B never yet saw.
Other peoples call it a tree. It
will be big ; and in future 6
years, if it is duly tended, there
will spring from it groves,7
which will give shelter to men
and women, and will be useful
for many other ends. But tended
it must be, for without man's
striving nothing turns out well for
men."
Namezo was about to reply,
but as he raised his hand to look
at the seed, he seemed to turn8
head downwards : the mountain
disappeared,9 and he fell . . .
fell . . . fell. . . .
Then he was awake again in
the oven-like 10 hut, but he could
1 Dropping. To fall = fal-i ; suf. -^denotes causing to fall.
2 Rise. To raise = lev-i ; suf. -ig makes it intransitive.
s A growth. To grow = kreski ; ' ' grow-thing " — kresk-aj-o.
4 Such ... as. Tia . . . kia ( = Latin talis . . . qiuilis). See table of
correlatives, p. 193.
* Your people. You = vi ; -a makes it an adj.
6 Future. Future participle active of ven-i = about to come.
7 Groves. Tree = arb-o ; suf. -ar denotes a collection of trees.
8 To turn. Turn-i is transitive ; suf. -ig makes it intransitive.
8 Disappeared. To appear = aper-i ; pref. mal- denotes opposite.
10 Oven-like. Oven =» forn-o ; ending -a makes it an adjective.
NESAGA GENTO
ne povis sin malhelpi, rigardi
sian manon, por vidi cu la
semo enestis. Semo neestis :
kaj la pensoj rekomencis
ruladi tra lia cerbo — tamen
ne plu la antauaj turmentigaj
pensoj, sed novaj esperplenaj
pensoj, car li kredis, pasie
kredis, ke estas ja ia verajo
en lia songo.
Kaj nun la morgaua tago
eklumigis. Li levigis kaj iris
al sia laboro, kaj tiun ci tagon
kaj multajn sekvantajn tagojn
li laboradis kiel kutime, paro-
lante al neniu pri la sema
songo.
Sed kiam la tempo de rikolto
forpasis, li acetis dudektagan
nutrajon kaj donis al la patrino
sian restan sparajon el la
rikolta tempo (car vi scias,
ke en la sezono de rikolto
bona laboristo gajnas pli ol
not refrain * from 2 looking at his
hand, to see if the seed was in
it. There was no seed ; and the
thoughts began to roll through
his brain again — yet no longer
the old3 worrying thoughts, but
new thoughts full of hope, for he
believed, passionately believed,
that there was indeed some truth4
in his dream.
And now the new day began
to dawn. He got up and went
about his work, and this day and
many succeeding days he went
on working as usual, speaking to
no one about his dream of the
seed.
But when harvest-time was
over, he bought food 6 enough
for twenty days and gave his
mother the rest6 of his harvest-
tide savings7 (for you know that
in the harvest season a good
workman 8 earns more than at
1 Refrain. To help = help-i; to hinder = malhelpi ; to hinder himself »
malhelpi sin.
2 Refrain from looking. In Esperanto use the simplest construction possible,
as long as it is clear. The simple infinitive rigardi is clear after malhelpi sin.
8 The old thoughts. Before = antaii ; ending -a makes it an adjective.
4 Truth. Think of the sense. Here truth = " true-thing," so use suf. -a}.
"Truth" = abstract virtue - vereco.
* Food. To feed = nutr-i ; suf. -a) denotes stuff.
0 The rest of. The rest = rest-o ; ending -a makes it an adjective «
remaining.
7 Savings. To save up = spar-i\ tyar-a)-o = save-thing (i.e. sav«f thing).
• Workman. To work = lakor-i ; suf. -itt denotes the agent.
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
alitempe), dirante ke li devos
vojagi, kaj forestos dudek
tagojn. La patrino miregis,
car neniam antaiie li estis
lasinta sin ec unu tagon; sed
li estis bona filo, kaj si kon-
traustaris lin en nenio.
Li forvojagis do, kaj post
kvin tagoj li ekvidis malprok-
sime sur la horizonto blankan
nubon, kiu dum la morgaua
tago montrigis kiel monta
pinto. Namezo salutis gin,
kaj de tiu momento, sen ia
dubo, direktis sian iron tra la
ebenajo ciam al gi.
Kiara li alvenis piedon de
la montoj, la deka tago jam
finigis. Efektive li estis grave
trompiginta pri la distanco.
Neniam antaiie lividis monton,
kaj tial, kiam li ekvidis la
pinton meze de la vojago, li
kredis ke li jus alvenas, kaj
other times), saying that he must1
go on a journey, and would l
be away for twenty days. His
mother wondered greatly, for he
had never left2 her before even
for a single day ; but he was a
good son to her, and she did not
thwart him in anything.
So he journeyed forth, and in
five days he began to see far off
on the horizon a white cloud,
which turned out 3 in the course
of the next day to be a mountain-
peak. Namezo saluted it, and
from that moment, without any
doubt, bent his course * across
the plain constantly towards it.
When he came to the foot 6 of
the mountains, the tenth6 day
was already drawing to an end.
Indeed, Namezo had been greatly
mistaken 7 in the distance. He
had never seen a mountain before,
and so, when he caught sight of
the peak half-way, he thought he
1 He must go ... and would be away. Esperanto syntax is perfectly
simple. Just use the tense which the speaker would use, here the future ; or
any tense, so long as the meaning is clear.
* He had left. Pluperfect = "he was having left," esti with past part.
active. Li estis lasita would mean "he had been left."
3 Turned out to be. To show = montr-i ; with suf. -ig> montrig-i — to
show itself, to become shown.
4 His course. To go — ir-i ; ending -o makes it a substantive = a going.
4 To the foot. Motion ; use the -» case.
8 Tenth. Ten = dek ; to form the ordinal numbers add -a to the cardinal.
7 Mistaken. To deceive = tromp-i ; suf. -ig makes it intransitive.
NESAGA GENTO
177
marsis pli malrapide. Tri
tagojn li pensis ciumatene,
" Mi estos hodiau vespere ce
la montpiedo ; morgau mi
suprenrampos gis la pinton."
Sed nun li sciis, ke li estas
malfrua. Li formangis jam
la duonon de sia provizajo,
kaj dum la lastaj mejloj li
ekvidis ke Ha pinto estas parto
de vasta senlima montegaro,
ke gi ankorau malproksimas
kaj li tute ne tiel facile supren-
iros. Li kalkulis ke almenau
oktaga nutrajo estos necesa
por reiri hejmen de la piedo
de la montaro, kaj tiom li tie
enterigis por la returna vojago.
Sekve restis nur dutaga
mangajo por la suprena kaj
malsuprena montiro.
Tre frue do li ekiris la dek-
unuan tagon, kaj penadis
ciutage supren. Vespere li
vidis ke li ankorau havas plen-
an tagvojagon gis la pinton,
kaj tiel li devos tre spareme
was just getting there, and walked
slower. For three days he thought
every morning, " I shall be at
the foot of the mountains this
evening ; to-morrow I'll climb l
to the top." But now he knew
that he was late.2 He had already
eaten up half3 of his provisions,*
and for the last few miles he was
beginning to see that his peak
was part of a boundless mountain-
range, that it was still far off and
he would by no means get up
so easily. He calculated that at
least eight days' food would be
needed to get home from the foot
of the mountain-range, and he
buried 5 that amount 6 there for
the return journey. Thus only
two days' provision was left for
the ascent and descent of the
mountain.
Very early, then, on the
eleventh7 day he set out, and
toiled the whole day upwards.
In the evening he saw that he
still had a full day's journey to
the top, and so he must be very
1 Climb. Supr-a, -e, -en = upper, above, upwards.
* Late. Early =fru-a ; pref. mal- denotes opposite.
8 Half. Two = du ; suf. -on denotes fractions, cf. kvarono = quarter.
4 Provisions. Provide-stuff (i.e. provid<rrf stuff).
5 Buried. Earth = ter-o ; in = en; suf. -ig denotes causing to be.
8 That amount. Tiom. See the table of correlatives, p. 193.
7 Eleven = dek-unu ; add -a to make the ordinal. 20 - dudek.
12
i78
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
uzi sian restan provizajon.
La dekdua tago estis tre
doloriga. La monto farigis
kruta ; li devis rapidi ; kaj li
terure malsatis pro ekman-
kanta mangajo. Malgraii cio
li alvenis montpinton je la
noktigo. La subita ekscito,
kune kun la laceco kaj mal-
sato, estis tro : en la momenta
de sukceso li falis en sveno
sur la teron.
Jen,dum likusis senkonscie,
aperis la duan fojon la sama
vidajo. Birdo blanka alflugis,
metis en lian manon semon,
kaj diris la samajn vortojn.
Denove li levis la manon, kaj
denove li sajnis renversigi, kaj
falis . . . falis . . . falis. . . .
Rekonsciiginte, li trovis sin
kusanta trankvile apud la loko
mem, kie li enterigis sian re-
turnan provizajon antau la
supreniro. Li kusis sur dolca
sparing l in the use of his remain-
ing stores. The twelfth day was
very painful.2 The mountain
grew s steep ; he had to press on ;
and he was terribly hungry,4 as
the food was beginning to give
out. In spite of all, he reached
the top at nightfall.5 The sudden
excitement, with his weariness
and hunger, was too much : in
the moment of success he fell to
the ground in a swoon.
And lo ! as he lay unconscious,
there appeared to him for the
second time the same vision.6 A
white bird flew up, put a seed
into his hand, and said the same
words. Again he raised his
hand, and again he seemed to
turn over, and fell ... fell ...
fell. . . .
When he came to himself,7
he was lying quietly in the
very place where he had buried
his food for the home journey
before the ascent. He was lying
1 Sparing. To save = spar-i ; suf. -em denotes propensity.
2 Painful. Pain = dolor-o ; suf. -ig denotes causation ; ending -a makes it
an adjective.
s Grew. To make =far-i ; suf. -ig denotes becoming made, growing.
4 Hungry. Satisfied = sat-a ; pref. mal- denotes the opposite. To be
hungry = mal-sat-i.
5 Nightfall. Night = nokt-o ; suf. -ig denotes becoming.
6 Vision. See(n)-thing ; vid-i = to see ; with suffix -a}.
7 When he came to himself. Conscious = konsci-a ', prefix re- denotes back
again ; suffix -ig denotes becoming.
NESA&A GENTO
179
herbo, kaj sentis sin korpe
tute mallacigata, kaj granda
paco regis en lia animo. Tuj
kiam li malfermis la okulojn,
li rigardis en sian manon, kaj
tiun ci fojon la semo enestis.
Longa, labora kaj preskaii
sennutra malsupreniro de la
montpinto jam ne necesis, kaj
la hejmvojago trans la ebenajo
prosperis, tiel ke Namezo
staris baldaii ree en la patrina
dometo. La vilaganoj kun-
venis amase kaj multe de-
mandis pri lia vojago, car
neniu el ili estis iam tiel
malproksimen foririnta de la
hejmo. Namezo cion rakontis,
kaj montris la semon kiun li
devos planti. La najbaroj
komence kredis, ke li volas
mirigi ilin, kiel la vojagistoj
amas fari, kaj ili ridis pri liaj
rakontajoj. Sed, kiam ili
vidis ke li estis serioza, ili
ekkolerigis kaj volis forpreni
lian semon kaj detrui gin.
' Free from tiredness. Tired
on soft grass, and his body felt
free from its tiredness,1 and in
his soul reigned a great peace.
As soon as he opened 2 his eyes,
he looked in his hand, and this
time the seed was there.
A long, laborious descent from
the mountain-top almost without
food was now no longer needful,
and on the home journey across
the plain all went well, so that
Namezo soon stood again in his
mother's 3 cottage. The villagers
flocked in crowds* and asked
many questions about his journey,
for none of them had ever been
so far from home. Namezo told
them everything, and showed the
seed which he was to plant. At
first the neighbours thought he
was trying to astonish * them, as
travellers are wont to do, and
they laughed at his tales. But
when they saw that he was in
earnest, they got in a rage,6 and
wanted to take away his seed and
destroy it. " A ' tree ' is foolish-
lac-a ; mal- denotes opposite ; -ig denotes
causing to be.
2 Opened. To shut — ferm-i ; to open = malfermi.
1 Mother's. Father = patr-o ; suf. -in denotes feminine ; ending -a makes
it an adjective.
4 In crowds. Crowd «= amas-o ; ending -t makes it an adverb.
8 Astonish. To wonder — mir-i ; suf. -ig makes it transitive.
• Got in a rage. Anger - koltr-o ; pref. ek- denotes beginning ; »uf. -tf
denotes becoming.
i8o
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
" ' Arbo ' estas sensencajo,"
ili diris ; " ne povas ekzisti
alia kreskajo, krom la rikoltoj
kaj la legomoj kiujn ni kaj
niaj patroj jam ciam kreskigis.
Estas neeble ke io alia kresku
kaj igu pli granda." Kaj
unuj diris ke li estas vana
songisto, kaj aliaj ke li
frenezas. Sed lia patrino
kuragigis lin.
Kaj Namezo timis por sia
semo, kaj pripensis kiel li
povos savi gin de la najbaroj
kiam gi ekkreskos. Kaj li
eliris el la vilago nokte, kaj
plantis gin malproksime de
ciuj domoj, apud rivereto en
mallevigo de la tero, kie oni
gin ne vidos gis gi estos tre
granda. Kaj komence li iris
tien nur nokte ; sed, car li ne
parolis plu pri sia semo, la
vilaganoj forgesis la aferon,
tiel ke li povis eliri el la vilago
vespere post sia taglaboro
kiam li volis, kaj neniu zorgis
pri tio, kien li iras. Sed li ne
kuragis gin transplant! apud
ness," 1 they said ; " no other
plant can exist, except the crops
and vegetables that we and our
fathers have always grown. It is
impossible for anything else to
grow and become2 bigger than
they." And some said that he
was an idle dreamer, and others
that he was mad. But his
mother encouraged him.
And Namezo feared for his
seed, and thought how he could
save it from the neighbours when
it began to grow up. And he
went out of the village by night,
and planted it far away from all
the houses, by a little stream in
a hollow 3 of the ground, where
it would not be seen till it grew
very big. And at first he went
there only by night ; but, as he
said no more about his seed, the
villagers forgot the matter, so
that he could go out of the
village in the evenings after his
day's work whenever he liked,
and nobody troubled about where
he was going.* But he did not
1 Foolishness. Sense = senc-o ; without = sen; suf. -a) — without-sense-stuff.
2 Become. Suf. -ig is here used alone as a verb = to become.
s A hollow. To raise = lev-i ; suf. -ig makes it intransitive ; pref. mal-
denotes the opposite ; ending -o makes it a noun.
4 Where he was going. "Where" here = "whither," therefore add -«,
which denotes motion.
NESAGA GENTO
181
sian dometon, timante ke oni
difektu gin au serce au malice,
kaj sekve restis por li la
granda laborado iri, kiam li
estis jam laca, malproksimen
por flegi gin.
Jaroj forpasadis : Namezo
grandigis, sed lia kreskajo ne
volis grandigi. Multfoje li
malesperis, vidante ke gi
kvazau ne kreskadis plu, au
ke gi en somero havis velkan
mienon. Multajn vintrojn gi
preskau mortis per frosto.
Sed li persistis, kaj ciuokaze li
provis ian novan flegon, car
neniam antaue en la tuta lando
oni kreskigis tielan plantajon.
latempe li metis sterkon :
tiam li subdrenis la teron,
cirkauhakis la brancetojn, au
sirmis la burgonojn kontrau la
ventoj. Ree, vidante ke mal-
graii cio la arbeto ne prosperis,
li pretigis novan terajon kaj
transplantis gin, antaue en-
pluginte alispecan teron. Li
eksperimentis per seka, poste
per malseka, subtero : unu-
dare to transplant it to his own
cottage, fearing that they would
damage it in jest or malice, and
so the hard work remained for
him of going a long way to look
after it, when he was already tired.
Years passed away : Namezo
grew up,1 but his plant would not
grow up too. Many a time he
despaired,2 seeing that it seemed
as though it had given up growing,
or that it had a faded look in
summer. Many winters it nearly
died of the frosts. But he perse-
vered, and in every case* he
tried some new treatment, for
never before in the whole land
had any one grown 4 such a plant.
At one time he would put on
manure; then he tried draining
the ground, pruning the shoots, or
protecting the buds against the
winds. Again, seeing that in
spite of all the little tree did not
flourish, he prepared 8 a new soil-
bed and transplanted it, having
first ploughed in a different kind
of earth. He experimented with
dry, and then with damp, sub-soil :
1 Grew up. Big = grand-a ; suf. •/£• denotes becoming.
* Despaired. To hope = csper-i ; pref. ma/- denotes opposite.
3 In every case. To happen — okaz-i ; any or all — fin ; ending •< makes
it adverbial = " any-happening-ly," i.e. whatever happened.
4 Grown. To grow (intrans.) **kresk-i\ suf. -ig makes it transitive.
• Prepared. Ready - pret-a ; suf. -if =- to make ready.
182
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
vorte, li sencese penadis, di-
versigante konstante la kon-
dicojn gis li guste trafos.
Fine, kiam li jam de longe
estis plenaga, lia deziro plenu-
migis : tie, apud la rivereto
staris granda belkreska arbo.
En somero, kiam la folioj
estis plenaj, li kondukis tien
kelkajn amikojn, kaj ili gojis
sidantaj vespere sub la fresa
ombro. En autuno ili kolek-
tis la semujojn, portis ilin en
la vilagon, kaj penis decidigi
la vilaganojn planti la semaron
apud siaj dometoj, por havi
sirmilon. Sed la vilaganoj ne
volis.
Unu diris, " Arbo estas
neebla."*
Kaj Namezo respondis,
"Arbo ekzistas. Venu kun
mi, kaj mi vidigos vin."
Sed li diris, "Arbo estas
neebla."
Ree Namezo diris, " Se vi
in short, he toiled ceaselessly, con-
stantly varying1 the conditions till
he should hit off the right thing.
At last, when he had long come
to be a grown man,2 his desire
was fulfilled : 3 there beside the
stream stood a fine big tree.
In summer, when it was in full
leaf, he took his friends there, and
they rejoiced sitting in the cool
shade at evening. In autumn
they collected the pods,4 took
them to the village, and tried to
get the villagers to plant the seed
by their homes, to give them
shelter. But the villagers would
not have them.
One said, "A tree is impos-
sible." 5
And Namezo answered, "A
tree exists. Come with me,
and I will show6 you."
But he said, "A tree is im-
possible."
Again Namezo said, " If you
1 Varying. Diverse = divers-a ; suf. -ig = to render diverse.
2 A grown man. Age = ag-o ; full = pkn-a ; ending -a denotes adj.
8 Was fulfilled. To fulfil = plenum-i] -*£ denotes becoming.
4 Pods. Seed = sem-o ; suf. -uj denotes that which contains.
4 Impossible. Suf. -ebl denotes possibility, and can, like all suffixes, be
used by itself. Ne-ebl-a = not possible.
" Show. To see = vid-i ; with suf. -ig = to cause to see.
* For this and the following objections of the villagers, compare Part I.,
chap, xv., pp. $4'6-
NESAGA GENTO
183
nur tiom da peno faros, kiom
necesas por eliri el la vilago,
mi montros al vi arbon, sub
kiu miaj amikoj kaj mi sir-
migas ciuvespere. Venu nur
kaj provu se gi places ankau
al vi."
Sed li diris, "Mi ne volas
eliri. Arbo estas neebla."
Alia diris, " Mi vidis vian
arbon, kaj mi trovas gin tute
senutila."
Kaj Namezo respondis,
" Kial ? "
Kaj li diris, "Niaj patroj
ne havis arbon."
Namezo diris, " Niaj patroj
suferis pro manko de sirmado."
Kaj li diris, " Tial mi ankaii
suferos."
Alia diris, " Ni havas ja
sufice da kreskajoj. Niaj
rikoltoj kaj legomoj provizas
nutrajon, kaj la belaj floroj
carmas la okulon. Alia kres-
kajo estus superflua."
Kaj Namezo respondis,
"Bone. Niaj gisnunaj kres-
kajoj plenumas la cefajn bezo-
nojn de la homaro. Mango kaj
certa ornamo estas necesajoj
will only take as much trouble1
as is necessary to go out of the
village, I will show you a tree,
under which my friends and I
take shelter every evening. Only
just come and try whether it
pleases you also."
But he said, " I will not go
out. A tree is impossible."
Another said, "I have seen
your tree, and I consider it per-
fectly useless."
And Namezo answered,
"Why?"
And he said, "Our fathers had
no trees."
Namezo said, " Our fathers suf-
fered from want of shelter."
And he said, "Therefore I too
will suffer."
Another said, " We have enough
plants. Our crops and vegetables
provide food, and our gay flowers
charm the eye. Another growing
thing would be superfluous."
And Namezo answered, "Good.
The plants we have already *
fulfil the chief needs of mankind.
Food and some ornament are
necessities 8 for human nature,
and for these uses we have the
por la homa naturo, kaj
1 Trouble. To iry=f>en-i; ending -o makes it a substantive — trying, effort.
2 The plants we have already. Lit. our till-now plants.
* Necessities. Necessary — tieces-a : with suf. -a) — necessary things.
1 84
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
por tiuj ci uzoj ni havas ri-
koltojn kaj florojn. Sed la
vivo estus pli plezura se ni
estus pli bone sirmataj. Tiun
ci apartan servon prezentas la
arboj, kaj ni povos gui gin sen
fordoni la profiton de floro kaj
rikolto. Ne, plue, niaj rikoltoj,
sirmataj de la montaj ventoj,
pli facile maturigos : tiel ni
havos pli da tempo por la
plezurigaj laboroj, kaj la floroj
estos ankorau pli belaj."
Kaj li diris, " Tagmeze,
kiam la suno brilas, mi kusas
inter la altstaranta greno. Tiu
ci sirmilo suficas. Ni havas
sufice da kreskajoj. Arbo
ne estas kreskajo ; gi estas
monstro. Iru diablon ! "
Kaj Namezo iris al la diablo,
car li estis preta iri kien ajn,
plivole ol daurigi paroli kun
la vilaganoj.
Li diris, " Via diabla Mosto,
la vilaganoj nauzadas min,
kaj mi estas laca je mia vivo.
Faru el mi kion vi volas."
crops and flowers. But life would
be pleasanter if we were better
sheltered. This special service *
is done by the trees, and we can
enjoy it without foregoing the
advantage of flower and crop.
Nay, more, our crops, sheltered
from the winds that blow from
the mountains, will ripen 2 more
easily : thus we shall have more
time for the work that brings
pleasure,3 and the flowers will
be even more lovely."
And he said, " At noon,4 when
the sun shines warm, I lie amidst
the deep standing corn. This
shelter is enough. We have
plants enough. A tree is not a
plant ; it is a monster. Go to
the devil!"
And Namezo went to the devil,
for he was ready to go anywhere,
rather than continue to talk to
the villagers.
He said, "Your devilish Majesty,
the villagers make me sick,5 and
I am tired of6 my life. Do with
me as you will."
1 Service. To serve = serv-i ; ending -o makes it a substantive.
2 Ripen. Ripe = matur-a ; suf. -z| denotes becoming.
8 Work that brings pleasure. Pleasure = plezur-o ; suf. -/^denotes causing
to be.
4 Noon. Day = tag-o ; middle = mez-o ; ending -e is adverbial.
5 Make me sick. To make sick = nattz-i ; -ad denotes continuation.
* Tired of. The preposition je is used when no other preposition exactly fits.
NESAGA GENTO
185
Respondis la diablo, " Mi ne
povas ion fari por vi, mizerulo !
La vilaganoj estas venkintaj
min ; kaj mi retiras min de la
aferoj. Neniam, ec en miaj
plej eltrovemaj tagoj, mi el-
pensis tiel mortigan turmenton
por progresema homo, kiel
sukcesi en la produkto de
profitiga uzilo, kaj tiam devi
penadi, por igi siajn kunulojn
alpreni gin. Reiru al la
vilaganoj kaj donu al ili
miajn respektplenajn kompli-
mentojn."
Pezakore, Namezo reiris
hejmen, kaj envoje li renkontis
vilaganaron portantan hakilojn.
Li demandis kial ili portas
hakilojn.
"Por dehaki la arbon,"
respondis la grupestro ; " ni
timas ke gi etendigos sur la
tutan landon. Se oni prenos
la fruktetojn kaj plantos ilin
apud sia logejo, la arboj en-
The devil made answer, " I can
do nothing for you, poor wretch ! l
The villagers have beaten me ;
and I am retiring from business.
Never, even in my most ingenious8
days, did I invent such a deadly s
torment for a progressive man,
as to succeed in producing a
beneficial * device, and then have
to keep striving to get his fellows '
to adopt it. Go back again to
the villagers, and give them my
respectful compliments."
Heavy at heart, Namezo went
home again, and on the way he
fell in with a band of villagers '
carrying axes.7 He asked why
they were carrying axes.
" To cut down the tree," replied
the leader of the band8; "we
are afraid that it will spread and
fill the whole land. If the people
take the fruits and plant them
at their own homes,9 trees will
1 Wretch. Misery = mizer-o ; suf. -«/ denotes having the quality of.
2 Ingenious. To find = trov-i ; out = el ; suf. -em denotes propensity or
aptitude.
3 Deadly. To die = tnort-i; suf. -ig denotes to cause to die.
4 Beneficial. Profit-causing ; suf. -ig.
8 Fellows. With = kun ; suf. •«/ denotes state or quality.
8 A band of villagers. Suf. -ar denotes a collection.
7 Axes. To hew = hak-i ; suf. -il denotes instrument.
8 Leader of the hand. Band • grup-o ; suf. -estr denotes chief of.
• Homes. To dwell = log-i ; suf. -ej denotes place.
i86
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
trudos sin en la kampojn kaj
en la florbedojn, kaj elpusos
la aliajn kreskajojn."
" Sed vi tute ne devos planti
la arbojn en la kampoj kaj
florbedoj," diris Namezo. La
arboj havas utilon diferencan
de la aliaj kreskajoj kaj oni
plantos ilin en aparta loko.
Se okaze arbo altrudos sin
inter la rikoltojn, oni elrad-
ikos gin tuj, antau ol gi
grandigos."
" Ne, arbo estas dangera,"
kriis la hakilistoj ; kaj Namezo
devis alvoki siajn arnikojn por
defendi la arbon.
Poste Namezo iris hejmen
kaj enfermis sin en siadometo.
Lia patrino estis jam de longe
morta, kaj la gefratoj jam
edzigis, kaj li vivadis sole.
Sed li nun ne povis ec resti
sola. Venis la saguloj de la
vilago, kaj ili kriadis tra la
fenestro, " Arbo estas bona
ideo, sed vi kreskigis vian
arbon malprave. Lasu nin
do flegi gin lau nia bontrovo,
kaj ni baldau plibonigos gin,
encroach upon the fields and
upon the flower-beds, and will
drive out the other plants."
" But you must not plant the
trees in the fields and flower-
beds," said Namezo. " Trees
have a different use from other
plants, and they will be planted
in quite separate places. If by
chance a tree pushes itself in
amongst the crops, it will be
rooted out at once, before it gets
big."
" No, trees are dangerous,"
cried the men with the axes l ; and
Namezo had to call up his friends
to defend the tree.
After this Namezo went home
and shut himself up in his cottage.
His mother was by this time long
dead, and his brother and sister 2
were now married,* and he lived
all alone. But now he could not
even remain alone. The wise
men of the village came along,
and they kept shouting through
the window, "Trees are a good
idea, but you have grown your
tree the wrong way. So let us
look after it as we see fit, and we'll
1 The men with the axes. To hew = hak-i ; -il denotes instrument ; -ist
denotes agent.
2 Brother and sister. Prefix ge- denotes both sexes.
* Were married. Husband (wife) = eds (in) -o ; suffix 'ig denotes
becoming.
NESAGA GENTO
187
tiel ke gi estos vere alpreninda
arbo."
Kaj al ili Namezo respondis
nenion. Li sciis ke li estis
doninta grandan parton de sia
vivo por eksperimenti kaj estis
produktinta belkreskan arbon,
dum la lertuloj nun estis vi-
dantaj arbon je la unua fojo,
kaj tute malsciis la malfacil-
ecojn kiujn oni devas venki,
kaj ec ne komprenis la de-
mandon kiun ili entreprenis
solvi. Sed li sciis ankau ke
tiela konsidero estas por
lertuloj malpli ol nenio. Estis
malutile argumenti kun ili, car
ili ne sciis ke ili ne scias, kaj
tio ci estas plej malfacila lerni.
Tial li lasis ilin paroladi, kaj
flegis sian arbon kiel antaiie.
"Car," li diris al si mem,
" kiam la arbo estos disvasti-
ginta kaj multobliginta lau-
spece tra la lando, per la grada
sperto de multaj homoj farigos
arba scienco, kaj tial ni fine
ellernos la plej bonan fleg-
manieron." Ankau li pensis,
" La diablo estis prava : la
diablo estas lertulo."
lom poste alvenis en la
soon improve1 it, so that it shall be
a tree really fit for us to take to."'
And to these Namezo answered
nothing. He knew that he had
given a great part of his life to
making experiment and had pro-
duced a well grown tree, while the
clever men were now seeing a tree
for the first time, and were wholly
ignorant of the difficulties that
had to be overcome, and did
not even understand the question
they were undertaking to solve.
But he also knew that to clever
men such a consideration is less
than nothing. It was no good to
argue with them, for they did not
know that they did not know,
and this is the hardest thing to
learn. So he let them keep on
talking, and tended his tree as
before. "For," said he to him-
self, "when the tree has spread
and multiplied after its kind
throughout the land, from many
men's gradual experience there
will arise a science of trees, and
thus we shall in the end find out
the best way of tending them."
Also he thought, "The devil
was right : the devil is a clever
man."
Now, some time after there
1 Improve. Good =• bon-a ; more «= pit ; -i[t; denotes causation.
2 Fit to take to. To take — prtn-i ; to — a/; -tint denotes worthy.
x88
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
vilagon homoj el aliaj lokoj,
kunportantaj diversajn semojn.
6iu el ili laudis sian propran
semon, dirante ke li estas
kreskiginta belan arbon el tia
semo, kaj postulante ke la
vilaganoj plantu nur liajn
semojn. Tiam iuj diris, " Ni
metu ciujn la diversajn semojn
kunen, kaj ni kreskigu el ili
unu bonan arbon." Kaj tiuj
ci petis Namezon ke lineniigu
sian arbon kaj pistu giajn
semojn kaj almiksu ilin en la
kunmetatan semajon, por ke
unu bona arbo elkresku.
Tiel ili babiladis kaj batal-
adis inter si ; kaj ili cirkau-
iradis en la vilago, montrante
modelojn de siaj arboj kaj
pruvante, ciu ke la sia estas la
plej bona. Kaj fine la vil-
aganoj enuigis kaj denove
volis dehaki ciun kaj cies
arbon.
Sed Namezo kaj liaj amikoj
havis jam du aii tre grandajn
arboj n, kaj gis nun prosperis
al ili defendi ilin kontrau la
atakoj de la vilaganoj. Kaj
ciam, kiam la vetero estas
varmega, ili sidas sub la arboj
arrived in the village men from
other places, bringing with them
various seeds. Each of them
praised his own seed, telling
how he had grown a fine tree
from such seed, and urging the
villagers to plant his seeds only.
Then certain of them said, " Let
us put all the divers seeds to-
gether, and let us grow from them
one good tree." And these
begged Namezo to destroy1 his
own tree and pound its seeds and
stir them into the compound
seedstuff, that one good tree
might grow out of it.
Thus they babbled and kept
quarrelling among themselves ;
and they went round about in the
village showing models of their
trees and proving each that his
own was the best. And at last
the villagers grew weary of it, and
wanted again to hew down every
tree, no matter to whom it
belonged.2
But Namezo and his friends
had by this time two or three big
trees, and up to this day they
have succeeded in defending
them against the villagers' attacks.
And always, when the weather is
very hot, they sit under their trees
Destroy. Nothing = neni-o ; suf.-z^- denotes causation.
No matter to whom it belonged. Lit. every one's.
GRAMMAR 189
vespere kaj guas la fresecon. in the evening and enjoy the
Tamen ili havas nur duonan coolness. Yet have they only
profiton el ili, car la vilaganoj half profit by them, for the
malpermesas planti ian arbon villagers forbid them to plant any
en la vilago, kaj tial la arbanoj tree in the village, and so the tree
devas ciufoje marsi mal- people have to walk a long way
proksimen kaj aparte viziti each time and have to make
siajn arbojn, anstatau havi ilin special visits to their trees, instead
apud siaj pordoj. of having them at their doors.
Kaj la plej granda parto And the greater part of the
de la vilaganoj, malgrau ke villagers, though the trees are
oni povas facile piediri al within a walk, still say, "Trees
la arboj, diras ankorau, " Arbo are impossible."
estas neebla."
Kaj la diablo ridas. And the devil laughs.
Ill
GRAMMAR
T. THERE is one definite article, /a, invariable. There is no
indefinite article.
2. Nouns always end in -o. Ex. patro = father.
3. Adjectives always end in -a. Ex. patra = paternal.
4. The plural of nouns, adjectives, participles, and pronouns
(except only the personal pronouns) ends in /. Ex. patroj —
fathers ; bonaj patroj = good fathers.
5. The accusative (objective) case always ends in -«. Ex. Mi
amas mian bonan patron = I love my good father. Ni amas
niajn bonajn patrojn = we love our good fathers.
6. Adverbs always end in -e. Ex. done «= well ; patrt -
paternally. (There are a few non-derived adverbs without the
ending -e, as jam, ankau, fie/, kiel).
7. The personal pronouns are :
mi = I if - she ni - we
vi = you %i = it vi - you
/;' = he oni — one ili - they
190 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Also a reflexive pronoun, si, which always refers to the subject
of its own clause.
All these pronouns form the accusative case by adding -«.
8. The verb has no separate ending for person or number.
The present ends in -as. Ex. mi amas = I love.
The past ends in -is. Ex. vi amis = you loved.
The future ends in -os. Ex. // amos = he will love.
The conditional ends in -us. Ex. ni amus = we should love.
The imperative ends in -u. Ex. amu = love ! ni amu = let us
love. This form also serves for subjunctive. Ex. Dio ordonas
ke ni amu unu la alian — God commands us to love one another.
The infinitive ends in -i. Ex. ami = to love.
There are three active participles.
The present participle active is formed by -ant. Ex. amanta
— loving ; amanto = a lover.
The past participle active is formed by -int. Ex. aminta = having
loved ; la skribinto = the author (lit. the man who has written).
The future participle active is formed by -ont. Ex. amonta =
being about to love.
There are three passive participles.
The present participle passive is formed by -at. Ex. amata =
being loved.
The past participle passive is formed by -it. Ex. amita =
having been loved.
The future participle passive is formed by -ot. Ex. arnota =
being about to be loved.
All compound tenses, as well as the passive voice, are formed
by the verb esti (to be) with a participle. Compound tenses are
employed only when the simple forms are inadequate. Ex. mi
estas aminta = I have loved (lit. I am having loved); vi estis
aminta = you had loved (lit. you were having loved) ; /// estas
amataj — they are loved ; Si estas amita = she has been loved ;
ni estis amitaj — we had been loved ; ///' estos amintaj = they will
have loved ; si estus aminta — she would have loved ; mi estus
amita = I should have been loved.
PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES 191
IV
LIST OF AFFIXES
/. Prefixes
bo- denotes relation by marriage : bopatro = father-in-law.
dis- denotes dissemination, division : dismeti = to put apart,
about, in pieces.
ek- denotes sudden action or beginning : ekdormi = to fall
asleep ; ekiri = to start.
ge- denotes both sexes : gepatroj = parents ; geviroj = men and
women.
mal- denotes the opposite : bona = good ; malbona = bad.
re- denotes back, again : repagi — to repay ; rekomenci = to
begin again.
//. Suffixes
-ad denotes continuation : penadi = to keep striving, to make
continued effort.
-a} denotes something concrete, made of the material, or
possessing the qualities of the root to which it is attached : bffvo —
ox ; bovajo = beef ; okazi — to happen ; okaza)oj = happenings,
events. (For English speakers a good rule is to add " thing " or
" stuff" to the English word ; propra = one's own, proprajo —
own-thing, property; vidindajoj = see-worthy-things, notable
sights.
N.B. : -a) added to transitive verbal stems generally has a
passive sense : tondi = to clip, tondajo = clipped-thing, clippings ;
whereas tondilo = clipping-thing, shears.) See Zamenhofs ex-
planation of -aj, La Revuo, Vol. I., No. 8 (April), pp. 374-5-
-an denotes an inhabitant, member, or partisan : urbano — a
town-dweller ; Kristano = a Christian.
-ar denotes a collection : vortaro =» a dictionary ; arbaro «• a
forest; homaro = mankind.
-tj denotes masculine affectionate diminutives : paljo — daddy ;
Arcjo = Arthur.
192 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
-ebl denotes possibility : kredebla — credible.
-ec denotes abstract quality : boneco = goodness.
-eg denotes great size or intensity : grandega = enormous ;
varmega = intensely hot.
-ej denotes place : lernejo = a learn-place, a school.
-em denotes propensity to : lernema — studious ; kredema —
credulous.
-er denotes one out of many, or a unit of a mass : sablero = a
grain of sand ; fajrero = a spark.
-estr denotes a chief or leader : lernejestro = a head master.
-et denotes diminution : infaneto = a little child ; varmeta —
warmish.
-/^denotes the young of, descendant of: bovido — a calf.
-ig denotes causation : bonigi, plibonigi = to make good, to
improve ; mortigi — to kill ; venigi = to cause to come, to
send for.
-ig denotes becoming, and has a passive signification : sanigi,
resanigi = to get well (again) ; paligi — to grow pale ; trovigi —
to be found, occur.
-// denotes an instrument : razilo — a razor.
-in denotes feminine : patrino = mother ; bovino = cow.
-ind denotes worthiness : latidinda — laudable, praiseworthy.
-ing denotes a holder : kandelingo = a candlestick ; glavingo •=
scabbard.
-ist denotes profession or occupation ; maristo = a sailor ;
bonfaristo = a benefactor.
-nj denotes feminine affectionate diminutives : Manjo = Polly ;
patrinjo (or panjo) = mamma.
-uj denotes containing or producing : inkujo = inkpot ;
Anglujo = England.
~ul denotes characteristic : timulo — a coward : avarulo =
a miser.
[The suffix -at (not in the Fundamento) is coming into use as
a pejorative ( = Italian -accio) : ridi = to laugh ; ridati = to
grin, sneer.]
CORRELATIVE WORDS
193
TABLE OF CORRELATIVE WORDS
Demonstra-
tive.
Relative and
Interrogative.
Negative.
Universal.
Indefinite.
Person *
\
tiu
that
kiu
who, which
neniu
no one
ciu
every, all,
every one
iu
some,
some one
Thing *
•
tio
that (thing)
kio
what, which
nenio
nothing
cio
everything
io
something
Quality
*
tia
that kind of a
kia
what kind of a
nenia
no,
no kind of
cia
each,
every kind of
ia
any,
some kind of
Time
•
tiam
then
kiam
when
neniam
never
ciam
always
iam
ever
at some time
Place
tie
there
kie
where
nenie
nowhere
cie
everywhere
ie
somewhere
Manner
1
tiel
thus, so
kiel
how
neniel
in no way
ciel
in every way
id
in some way,
somehow
Motive
•
tial
therefore
kial
why
nenial
for no reason
cial
for all reasons
ial
for some reason
Quantity
tiom
so \much
as /many
kiora
how much
how many
neniom
none
ciom
the whole amount
iom
somewhat,
a certain amount
Possession
ties
of that
kies
whose,
of which
nenies
nobody's
ties
everybody's
ies
somebody's
In the demonstrative column, to express " this" instead of " that," add W.
* N.B. — Tiu, kiu, etc., are used in agreement with a noun expressed, eren
when it does not represent a person.
Ex. Tiu libra, kiun mi legis — that book which I read.
Tiuj tifloroj = these flowers.
Tio, kio, etc., are used when there is no noun, so that they stand alone.
Ex. Tio estas vera - that is true ; kion vi diritl — what did you say ? Ti« h'
estas pli granda ol tio — this is bigger than that.
N.B. — In memorizing the above, it is well to remember that / •• demonstrative,
k = relative-interrogative, ? - distributive, i - indefinite, tun - negative.
'3
194
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
VI
VOCABULARY
-a, termination of adjectives.
atet-i, to buy.
-ad, suffix denoting continued
action.
aer-o, air.
ag-i, to act.
-a}, suffix denoting concrete
substance.
ajn, (what)ever; kiu ajn, who-
ever.
a/, to.
ali-a, other.
almenau, at least.
alt-a, high.
am-i, to love.
amas-0, crowd, mass.
ankau, also.
ankorau, still.
anstatau, instead of.
-ant, present participle active.
antaii, before (time and place).
apart-a, special.
apud, at.
-ar, suffix denoting a collection.
arb-o, tree.
-as, ending of present tense.
aud-i, to hear.
B
bafdau, soon.
bed-o, flower-bed.
bd-a, fine, beautiful.
bezon-o, need.
blank- a, white.
bon-a, good.
bord-o, edge, shore.
bril-i, to shine.
burgon-o, bud.
cel-o, object, aim.
cerb-o, brain.
cert-a, certain.
cagren-o, trouble.
far, for, because.
ce, at.
ces-i, to cease.
«, added to demonstrative //»,
expresses nearer connexion :
//« = that ; tiu a = this.
?/rtw, always.
tie, everywhere.
tirkaii, around.
tiu, all, each, every.
tit, interrogative particle.
D
da, used after words of quantity :
Ex. multe da vino, much wine.
daur-i, to last, continue.
de, of, from, by (with passive).
VOCABULARY
des, comparative particle ; ju
. . . des, the . . . the :
Ex. ju pli des plibone, the
more the better.
dev-i, to owe, to be obliged
to.
deviz-o, device, motto.
difekt-i, to spoil.
dir-i, to say.
dom-o, house.
don-i, to give.
du, two.
dub-i, to doubt.
dum, whilst.
E
-e, ending of adverbs.
tben-a, flat, level.
-ebl, suffix denoting possibility.
-ec, suffix denoting abstract
quality : bon-ec-o, goodness.
et, even.
edz-(in)-o, husband (wife).
-eg, suffix denoting great size.
-ej, suffix denoting place.
ek-, prefix denoting beginning.
ekster, outside.
el, out of.
-em, suffix denoting propensity.
en, in.
entrepren-i, to undertake.
enu-i, to weary, bore.
esper-i, to hope.
Esperant-o, Esperanto.
£st-i, to be.
-et, suffix denoting little.
etend-i, to stretch.
F
facil-a, easy.
fajr-o, fire.
fakt-o, fact.
far-i, to do.
fenestr-o, window.
ferm-i, to shut.
fil-o, son.
fin-o, end.
flank-o, side.
fleg-i, to tend.
y?«-/, to flow.
flug-i, to fly.
^y-o, time ; dufojoj, twice.
foli-o, leaf.
/0r, away.
forn-o, oven.
frato, brother.
fraz-o, sentence.
frenez-o, madness.
fru-a, early.
frukt-o, fruit.
G
£*-, prefix denoting both sexes.
gent-o, race, tribe.
grand-a, big, great.
^tf, until.
goj-o, joy.
^w-i, to enjoy.
196
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
H
hav-i, to have.
hejm-o, home.
hodiau, to-day.
hom-o, man (mortal; no dis-
tinction of sex).
-/, ending of infinitive.
ideal-o, ideal.
-ig, suffix denoting causation.
-ig, suffix denoting becoming.
-//, suffix denoting instrument.
Hi, they.
-int, past participle active.
inter, between, among.
ir-i, to go.
-is, ending of past tense.
-ist, suffix denoting agent.
iu, some one.
J
-j, ending of plural.
jam, already.
jar-o, year.
jen, here is, here are (French
void),
Ju, comparative particle. See
des.
jun-a, young.
J
Jus, just now.
K
kaj, and.
kamen-o, fireplace.
kamp-o, field.
kap-o, head.
kc, that (conjunction).
kelk-a, some.
kiam, when.
kiel, how, as.
kiu, who, which.
knab-o, boy.
komerc-o, commerce.
kompat-o, sympathy, pity.
kompren-i, to understand.
kon-i, to know.
konsil-i, to counsel.
konstru-i, to build.
kontrau, against.
kred-i, to believe.
kresk-i, to grow.
krorn, besides.
krut-a, steep.
kun, with.
kus-i, to lie.
kutim-i, to be accustomed.
kvankam, although.
kuar, four.
kvazau, as if.
kvin, five.
la, the.
lac-a, tired.
lag-o, lake.
VOCABULARY
197
land-o, land.
lang-o, tongue.
las-i, to let, leave.
tau, according to.
leg-i, to read.
legom-o, vegetable.
lern-i, to learn.
lert-a, clever.
lev-i, to raise.
It, he.
lim-o, limit.
lingv-o, language.
lit-o, bed.
long-a, long.
lum-o, light.
M
mal-, prefix denoting the oppo-
site.
malgraii, in spite of.
mang-i, to eat.
mank-it to be wanting.
mar-o, sea.
mart-o, swamp.
maten-o, morning.
mem, self.
»*£/-/, to put.
mez-o, middle.
mi, I.
mien-o, look, air, gait.
mir-i, to wonder.
mon-o, money.
mond-o, world.
montr-i, to show.
morgau, to-morrow.
AfoSt-o, term of respect : your
Highness, Worship, Honour.
mult-a, much, many.
N
-«, ending of accusative ; also
denotes motion towards and
duration of time.
naci-o, nation.
nask-i, to beget
net no, not.
neg-o, snow.
neniam, never.
neniu, no one.
»/', we.
nom-o, name.
nov-a, new.
nub-o, cloud.
nun, now.
nur, only.
nutr-t, to feed.
O
-0, ending of nouns.
oft-e, often.
ok, eight.
ofaz/', to happen.
okul-o, eye.
<7/, than.
-<m, suffix denoting fraction.
<?«/', one, people (indef. pron.).
-on/, future participle active.
orel-o, ear.
-o^, ending of future.
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
pac-o, peace.
parol-i, to speak.
pen-i, to try.
pens-i) to think.
per, by means of.
perd-i, to lose.
pez-a, heavy.
pied-o, foot.
pint-o, point, peak.
pist-i, to pound.
plac-i, to please.
plat-a, flat.
plej, most.
plen-a, full.
plend-i, to complain.
plenum-i, to fulfil.
///, more.
/>/«, more, further, farther.
plug-i, to plough.
popol-o, people, race.
/0r, for.
pord-o, door.
/, after, behind (time and
place).
*, to be able.
pra, original, great-grand-
father).
prav-at right.
pren-i, to take.
preskau, almost.
pret-a, ready.
prefer, beyond, by.
pri, about, concerning.
pro, on account of.
R
rakont-i, to narrate.
ramp-i, to crawl, climb.
rapid-a, quick.
rekt-a, straight.
rem-i, to row.
renkont-i, to meet.
renvers-i, to upset, overthrow.
rikolt-o, crop.
saf-a, satisfied, full, replete.
sci-i, to know.
sed, but.
sek-a, dry.
sekv-i, to follow.
,re#/-0, seed.
^«, without.
senf-i, to feel.
«, self, reflexive pronoun.
sid-i, to sit.
sinjor-o, sir, Mr., gentleman.
skrib-i, to write.
^(3/-a, alone, only.
son-o, sound.
song-o, dream.
sonor-a, sonorous.
spec-o, kind, sort.
spert-o, experience.
spir-i, to breathe.
star-i, to stand.
sterk-o, manure.
subit-a, sudden.
sufic-a, sufficient.
VOCABULARY
199
supr-a, upper, superior.
sven-i, to swoon.
sajn-i, to seem.
Serc-i, to joke.
sip-o, ship.
sirm-i, to shelter.
spar-i, to save up, economize.
stel-i, to steal.
tag-o, day.
tatnen, yet, nevertheless.
tegment-ot roof.
temp-o, time.
ten-i, to hold, keep.
ter-o, earth.
tial, therefore.
tiel, thus, so.
tiotn, so much, so many.
tiu, that.
tra, through.
traf-i, to hit the mark.
transt across.
tre, very.
trem-i) to tremble,
/w, too much.
tromp-i) to deceive.
trov-it to find.
/r»</-/, to shove, thrust.
/«/', immediately,
/-a, all.
U
-«, ending of imperative-sub-
junctive.
-uj, suffix denoting " holder."
-w/, suffix denoting character-
istic.
unu, one.
vapor-o> steam.
vek-i, to wake (trans.)
, sail.
-dy faded.
/, to come.
venk-it to conquer.
vent-ot wind,
tw-a, true.
vesjvr-o, evening.
vetur-i, to travel by vehicle
(train, carriage, boat, etc.).
vi, you.
vid-t\ to see.
vidv-(in}-o, widow(er).
vir-(in)-o, man(woman).
vfv-f, to live.
voj-o, way.
vojag-o, voyage, journey.
vokal-ot vowel.
w/-i, to wish.
vorn-i, to vomit, be sick.
) word.
iorg-0 : care.
200 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
APPENDIX A
SAMPLE PROBLEMS IN REGULAR LANGUAGE
WORD-BUILDING can be made quite an amusing game for children.
For instance, give them the suffixes -ej (denoting place) and -//
(denoting instrument), and set them to form words for " school,"
" church," " factory," " knife," " warming-pan," etc. (lernejo,
pregejo, fabrikejo, trantilo^ varmigilo).
But since the language is perfectly regular in form and con'-
struction, and the learner can therefore argue from case to case,
it is a useful instrument for instilling clear ideas of grammatical
categories. Thus give the roots —
viv-i = to live san-a = healthy hom-o = man
long-a = long sag-a = wise Di-o = God
don-i = to give
and set such sentences as the following to be worked out —
"He lives long"; "A long life is a gift of God"; "It is wise
to live healthily"; "God is divine, man is human"; "Human
life is short," etc.
The same roots constantly recur with an -o, -a, or -e tacked on ;
and the practice in sorting out the endings, and attaching them
like labels to nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs, soon marks
off the corresponding ideas clearly in the learner's mind.
Analogous to simple sums and conducive to clear thinking
are such sentences as the following, for rather more advanced
pupils :
Given —
raz-i = to shave
akr-a — sharp
uz-i = to use
serv-i =* to serve
mort-i = to die
hak-i = to hew
sent-i = to feel
san-a = healthy
ven-i = to come
kun = with
and the table of affixes (pp. 191-2).
PROBLEMS IN REGULAR LANGUAGE 201
Translate — "Constant use had blunted his razor"; "He had
his servant shaved " ; " He killed his companion with an axe " ;
" Let us send for the doctor."
More advanced exercise (on the same roots) :
Translate — " O Death, where is thy sting ? " " Community
of service brings together men subject to death, and dulls the
perception of their common mortality. Willing service dissipates
the weariness of the server ; the deadliness of disease is mitigated,
and the place of sickness becomes a place of health."
By referring to the table of affixes, the use of which has of
course been explained, the learner can work out the answers
as follows :
Uz-ad-o estis mal-akr-ig-int-a lian raz-il-on.
Li raz-ig-is sian serv-ant-(0r ist)on.
Li mort-ig-is sian kun-ul-on per hak-il-o.
Ni ven-ig-u la sari-ig-ist-on.
More advanced :
Ho Morto, kie estas via akr-ec-o ?
Kun-servo (or kuneco de servo) kun-ig-as la mort-em-(ul)-ojn,
kaj mal-akr-ig-as la sent-on de ilia kun-a mort-em-ec-o. Serv-
em-ec-o dis-ig-as la el-uz-it-ec-on de la serv-ant-o ; la mort-ig-ec-o
de la mal-san-ec-o mal-akr-ig-as, kaj la mal-san-ej-o igas san-ej-o.
No national language could be used in this way for building
sentences according to rules, and such exercises should give a
practical grip of clear use of language. The student is obliged
to analyse the exact meaning of every word of the English
sentence, and this necessity inculcates a nice discrimination in
the use of words. At the same time the necessary word-building
depends upon clear-headed and logical application of rule.
There is no memory work, but the mind is kept on the stretch,
and the exercise is wholesome as combating confusion of thought
and slovenliness of expression.
202 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
APPENDIX B
ESPERANTO HYMN BY DR. ZAMENHOF
La Espero
EN la mondon venis nova sento,
Tra la mondo iras forta voko ;
Per flugiloj de facila vento
Nun de loko flugu gi al loko.
Ne al glavo sangon soifanta
Gi la homan tiras familion :
Al la mond' eterne militanta
Gi promesas sanktan harmonion.
Sub la sankta signo de 1'espero
Kolektigas pacaj batalantoj,
Kaj rapide kreskas la afero
Per laboro de la esperantoj.
Forte staras muroj de miljaroj
Inter la popoloj dividitaj ;
Sed dissaltos la obstinaj baroj,
Per la sankta amo disbatitaj.
Sur neiitrala lingva fundamento,
Komprenante unu la alian,
La popoloj faros en konsento
Unu grandan rondon familian.
Nia diligenta kolegaro
En laboro paca ne lacigos,
Gis la bela songo de 1'homaro
Por eterna ben' efektivigos.
THE ESPERANTO HYMN 205
LITERAL TRANSLATION
Hope
Into the world has come a new feeling,
Through the world goes a mighty call;
On light wind-wings
Now may it fly from place to place.
Not to the sword thirsting for blood
Does it draw the human family :
To the world eternally at war
It promises holy harmony.
Beneath the holy banner of hope
Throng the soldiers of peace,
And swiftly spreads the Cause
Through the labour of the hopeful.
Strong stand the walls of a thousand years
Between the sundered peoples ;
But the stubborn bars shall leap apart,
Battered to pieces by holy love.
On the fair foundation of common speech,
Understanding one another,
The peoples in concord shall make up
One great family circle.
Our busy band of comrades
Shall never weary in the work of peace,
Till humanity's grand dream
Shall become the truth of eternal blessing.
204 INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
APPENDIX C
THE LETTER C IN ESPERANTO
c = ts in English "bits."
This has given rise to much criticism. The same sound is
also expressed by the letters ts. Why depart from the Esperanto
principle, " one sound, one letter," and have two symbols (c and
ts} for the same sound ?
A standing difficulty of an international language is : What
equivalent shall be adopted for the c of national languages ? The
difficulty arises owing to the diversity of value and history of the c
in diverse tongues. Philologists, who know the history of the
Latin hard c and its various descendants in modern languages,
will appreciate this.
(1) Shall c be adopted in the international language, or omitted ?
If it is omitted, many useful words, which it is desirable to adopt
and which are ordinarily spelt with a c, will have to be arbitrarily
deformed, and this deformation may amount to actual obscuring
of their sense. E.g. cento — hundred ; centra = centre ; cerbo =
brain ; certa =» certain ; cirkonstanco — circumstance ; civila =
civil, etc. Such words would become almost unrecognizable for
many in the forms kento, sento, zento, tsento, etc.
(2) If, then, c is retained, what value is to be given to it ? The
hard and soft sounds of the English c (as in English "cat,"
" civil ") are already represented by k and s. Neither of these
letters can be dispensed with in the international language ; and
it is undesirable to confuse orthographically or phonetically
^-roots with s- or £-roots. Therefore another value must be
found for the symbol c. The choice is practically narrowed down
to the Italian soft c = ch, as in English " church," and the German *
£ = ts in English " bits." Now ch is a useful and distinctive
sound, and has been adopted in Esperanto with a symbol of its
own : c. Therefore ts remains.
* Also late Latin and early Norman French.
LETTER C IN ESPERANTO 205
(3) Why not then abolish c and write ts instead ? For answer,
see No. (i) above. It is a worse evil to introduce such
monstrosities as tscnto, tsivila, etc., than to allow two symbols for
the same sound, ts and c. International language has to appeal
to the eye as well as to the ear.
This matter of the c is only one more instance of the wisdom
of Dr. Zamenhof in refusing to make a fetish of slavish adherence
to rule. Practical common-sense is a safer guide than theory in
attaining the desired goal — ease (of eye, ear, tongue, and pen)
for greatest number. In practice no confusion arises between
c and ts.
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Clark, Walter John
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